THE 


JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S 
HANDBOOK. 


/ 


Copyright,  1902, 

By 

The  Jewe.ers’  Circular  Pub.  Co. 
New  York. 


THE 


Jewelry  Repairer’s 
Handbook. 


By  JOHN  G.  REPLINGER. 


HENRY  PAULSON  &  CO. 

“World’s  Best"  37  S.  Wabash  Ave.  Chicage 


7H0 

■ 


PREFACE. 


In  preparing  this  hand-book  it  was  not  the  inten¬ 
tion  to  publish  an  exhaustive  volume  covering  every 
detail  of  the  whole  held  of  jewelry  repairing,  nor  a 
text-book  for  beginners.  It  is  presented  mainly  for 
that  large  class  of  workmen  who  have  learned  their 
trade  in  stores  and  who  desire  to  knozv  the  best  as 
well  as  the  latest  methods  employed  in  large  jewelry 
repair  shops.  With  this  end  in  vieiv  the  author  has 
explained  methods  more  fully  than  he  otherwise  would 
to  workmen  who  have  made  the  repairing  of  jewelry 
a  specialty.  J .  G.  K. 

New  York,  June,  1902. 


THE 

JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S 
HANDBOOK 


THE  BENCH 

The  jeweler’s  bench  must  be  strong  and  well  made 
and  securely  fastened  to  the  floor  to  insure  firmness. 
Its  dimensions  should  be  about  3  ft.  4  in.  high,  2  ft. 
wide  and  3  ft.  long  and  the  top  1^4  in.  thick. 

The  bench  usually  contains  two  drawers ;  one — 
measuring  from  21  to  24  in.  long,  18  in.  wide  and  3 
in.  deep — immediately  below  the  top  of  the  bench, 
in  which  all  tools  are  kept  when  not  in  use,  and 
when  closed  it  should  be  at  least  3  inches  back  from 
the  edge  of  the  bench  to  allow  the  jeweler’s  hand 
perfect  freedom  while  working  at  the  bench  pin;  the 
other,  or  lap  pan,  from  21  to  24  in.  long,  24  in.  wide 
and  1  Y\  in.  deep  in  front  and  having  sloping  sides 
which  make  the  drawer  Al/2  in.  deep  at  the  back. 
This  pan  is  lined  with  zinc,  and  when  pulled  out  lies 
snugly  in  the  jeweler’s  lap  and  catches  all  filings 
and  scraps  that  fall  from  his  work. 

A  very  important  part  about  the  bench  is  the 
bench  pin,  and  the  writer  has  been  considerably  sur¬ 
prised  to  learn  that  very  many  jewelers  have  never 
heard  of  it.  Into  the  edge  of  the  top  of  the  bench  and 
above  the  middle  of  the  lap  pan,  a  hole  is  cut  about 


8  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK 

3  in.  long,  in.  deep  and  %  of  an  inch  wide.  Into 
this  hole  is  fastened  the  bench  pin — a  flat  piece  of 
wood  about  3  in.  wide,  in.  thick  and  extending 
3  in.  from  the  edge  of  the  bench.  Another  style  of 
pin  with  two  surfaces — one  flat  and  the  other  sloping 
— is  used  for  filing  rings.  This  style  can  be  made 
to  order  or  obtained  from  any  material  dealer. 

On  the  bench  pin  most  of  the  work  is  done,  and  it 
has  aptly  been  called  a  third  hand.  Its  further  uses 
will  be  pointed  out  in  the  sequel. 


TOOLS. 

The  beginner  need  not  have  many  tools  with 
which  to  begin  work ;  indeed,  for  some  time,  in 
shops,  he  does  not  do  anything  but  saw  straight  and 
curved  lines  in  copper  or  brass  plate.  Then  the 
tools  required  are  a  saw-frame  and  blades,  a  pair 
of  flat  pliers,  a  rule  or  straight-edge,  a  pair  of  divid¬ 
ers  and  a  scribing  point.  As  he  advances  he  makes 
flat  band  rings  of  the  strips,  and  for  this  work  he  re¬ 
quires  a  cut-off  size  gauge,  one  of  which  will  be 
found  on  the  top  of  every  Allen  ring-stick,  a  pair  of 
shears,  a  pair  of  half-round  pliers,  a  half-round  file, 
a  ring  mandril,  a  rawhide  mallet — small  size — a 
blow-pipe,  soldering  block  or  charcoal,  a  borax  slate 
and  cake  of  borax,  a  small  camel’s-hair  brush,  a  wa¬ 
ter-bottle,  a  pickle  pan,  a  pickle  cup  and  a  soldering 
lamp,  either  alcohol  or  gas.  Provided  with  these 
tools,  the  beginner  is  enabled  to  make  up  plain  rings, 
and  as  he  progresses  he  can  do  many  repair  jobs 
without  requiring  any  more  tools.  But  as  these 
will  be  needed  some  time  or  other,  below  is  pre¬ 
sented  a  complete  list  of  them,  the  use  of  each  being 
briefly  explained  when  considered  necessary: 


TOOLS 


9 


Alcohol  lamp. 
Alcohol  cup. 
Anvil. 
Blow-pipe. 
Borax-slate. 


Bench-brush. 
Beading-  tools. 
Bornx. 
Blow-pipe. 


-r,  •  i  '  Regular 

Burnishers  c  ° 

I  Spoon. 

Camel’s-hair  brush. 
Charcoal  block. 
Draw-plate. 

Drawing  tongs. 


Files 


- 

I 


Half-round. 

Flat. 

Barrette. 

Needle. 


Gravers. 

Hand-vise. 


Drills. 
Eyeglass. 
Emery  sticks. 

Coarse 

and 

Fine. 

Knife-edge. 

Round. 

Square. 
Triangular. 
Matting  tools. 
Magnet. 


Hammers 
Lamp. 


Large.  (  Hard 

Small.  Oil-stones  -<  and 

(  Soft. 

Pendant  bow  contractor  and  ring  bender. 
Rivet. 

Round. 

Half-round. 

Pliers  -i  Flat 

Parallel. 

Cutting. 

Pointed  flat. 


Pusher. 
Pump-drill. 
Punches. 
Pin-vises. 
Ring  mandril. 
Ring  clamp. 


Saw-frame  and 
blades. 

Split  tweezers. 
Soldering-iron. 
Setting  mandril 
Testing-stone. 


10  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


Soldering  lamp. 
Spiral  turners. 


Shears. 


Ring  size  stick. 
Rawhide  mallet. 
Scotch-hone. 


Screw-drivers. 

Sieve. 


Testing  needles. 
Tweezers. 

Vise. 

Water-bottle. 
Wax-box. 
Wax-point. 
Watchmakers’  me* 


dium  stiff  brush. 


The  beading  tools  are  tapering  pieces  of  tempered 
steel,  about  four  inches  long,  and  have  a  concaved 
end  which  forms  the  beads  or  grains  used  when  set¬ 
ting  pearls.  The  tools  are  held  in  graver  handles 
and  are  given  a  rolling  motion. 

Prepared  borax  can  be  bought  at  any  material 
house,  but  crystallized  borax,  obtained  in  any  drug 
store,  will  answer  just  as  well. 

The  spoon-burnisher  is  made  by  softening  and 
rounding  and  retempering  the  wide  end  of  a  flat  file. 
This  burnisher  is  used  for  removing  dents,  etc.,  from 
spoon  bowls. 

The  small  camel’s-hair  brush  is  used  for  placing 
the  borax  paste  on  the  joint  to  be  soldered.  A  larg¬ 
er  one  can  be  used  for  anti-oxidizing  purposes. 

Every  jeweler  should  have  a  draw-plate  with 
round  holes  and  a  pair  of  drawing  tongs. 

The  matting  tools  are  used  to  mat  the  solder 
which  has  run  into  the  engraving  or  matting  of  band 
rings. 

The  magnet  and  sieve  are  used  to  remove  dirt  and 
steel,  as  well  as  iron,  from  the  filings  and  scraps  of 
gold. 

The  pendant  bow  contractor  is  used  to  bend  very 
heavy  rings  which  cannot  be  bent  with  the  half- 
round  pliers. 

The  rivet  pliers  are  used  to  extract  rivets  from 
joints  which  resist  all  other  methods.  They  are 
made  from  a  pair  of  English  hawkbill  case-pliers  by 
drilling  a  hole  through  the  end  of  the  flat  jaw  and 


TOOLS. 


11 


bending  the  curved  end  so  that  it  will  be  exactly 
above  the  hole  when  the  pliers  are  opened  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch.  The  curved  part  should  be  filed 
so  as  to  go  into  the  average  joint  without  splitting 
it.  It  is  not  supposed  to  push  the  rivet  out  entirely, 
but  simply  to  start  it,  after  which  it  may  be  easily 
removed  with  a  pair  of  pliers  or  a  rivet  punch. 

The  ring  clamp  or  vise  is  a  wooden  arrangement 
for  holding  rings  while  stones  are  being  set  in  them. 
It  is  a  very  useful  tool  and  should  be  used  by  every 
jeweler. 

A  spiral  turner  is  a  piece  of  steel  about  three  or 
four  inches  long  and  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  diame¬ 
ter.  The  one  end  is  fastened  into  a  long  handle 
and  the  other  is  filed  flat.  Then  a  groove 
is  cut  across  the  middle  about  one-eighth 
of  an  inch  deep  and  wide  enough  to  allow  the  spiral 
wire  to  enter.  Then  to  the  side  of  the  middle  and 
about  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  from  the  top,  a  hole 
is  drilled  perpendicularly  to  the  groove.  A  piece 
of  wire  is  fitted  into  the  hole,  which  will  hold  the 
spiral  wire  in  position  while  being  turned  into  a 
spiral. 

The  split  tweezers  have  two  broad  ends,  one  of 
which  is  sawed  in  half  lengthwise  for  about  a  quar¬ 
ter  of  an  inch.  This  is  opened  to  form  a  triangle. 
A  narrow  band,  which  fits  around  the  other  end,  is 
moved  back  or  forth  when  an  article  is  inserted  or 
taken  out  of  the  jaws.  This  tool  is  used  mainly  for 
holding  scarf  pins  and  button  backs  while  soft-sol¬ 
dering. 

The  setting  mandril  is  made  by  softening, 
smoothing  and  retempering  a  large  rat-tail  file.  This 
tool  is  used  for  rounding  up  settings  that  are  made 
of  gallery. 

The  water-bottle  should  have  a  perforated  cork 
and  is  used  to  drop  water  on  the  borax  slate  to 
grind  the  paste  for  soldering  purposes. 


12  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


The  wax-box  is  an  ordinary  tin  box  half  filled 
with  wax  which  has  been  melted  and  allowed  to 
cool.  This  box  is  used  for  keeping  diamonds  and 
other  precious  stones  while  on  the  work-bench. 

The  wax-point  is  a  conical  piece  of  ordinary  bees¬ 
wax,  the  pointed  end  of  which  is  used  to  pick  up 
stones  while  setting  them. 

The  pusher,  used  to  push  the  prongs  over  stones, 
is  a  piece  of  soft  steel  about  three-sixteenths  of  an 
inch  square  and  about  two  inches  long.  It  is  fast¬ 
ened  into  a  graver  handle  so  that  an  inch  or  an  inch 
and  a  half  protrudes,  according  to  the  length  of  the 
handle  used.  The  end  which  comes  in  contact  with 
the  prong  is  slightly  beveled  back  and  roughened, 
so  that  it  will  not  easily  slip. 

The  Scotch-hone  or  stone  is  very  useful  for  re¬ 
moving  scratches  and  file  marks  from  articles  to  be 
polished,  and  especially  so  where  engraving  has  been 
removed. 


CHEMICALS,  TABLES  AND  RECIPES. 


The  following  is  a  complete  list  of  chemicals  a 
jobbing  jeweler  will  need.  Their  uses  will  be  point¬ 
ed  out  as  we  proceed : 


Ammonia 


Alcohol 


Gum  mastic, 
Muriatic  acid, 
Nitric  acid, 
Sal-ammoniac, 


Aqua-regia  (nitro-muriatic  acid), 


Calcium  plaster, 
Canada  balsam, 
Chloride  of  iron, 
Chloride  of  zinc, 
Chromic  acid. 


Benzine, 

Bi-carbonate  of  soda 
Boric  acid, 


Saltpetre, 

Shellac, 

Sulphuric  acid, 
Sulphate  of  iron, 
Sulphuret  of  potash, 
Soap, 

Washing  soda. 


CHEMICALS. 


13 


Boric  acid  is  used  in  the  preparation  of  anti-oxid¬ 
izer. 

Chromic  acid  is  used  for  testing  silver.  If  a  drop 
of  it  be  placed  on  sterling  silver  it  will  immediately 
change  its  color  from  a  bright  crimson  to  a  dark  red, 
while  on  silver  less  than  coin  it  will  become  the 
color  of  chocolate. 

Muriatic  acid  is  used  in  the  preparation  of  soft- 
solder  destroyer ;  for  making  aqua-regia,  etc. 

>  Nitric  acid  is  used  for  testing  gold  and  silver;  re¬ 
moving  mercury  from  gold  and  silver  and  for  mak¬ 
ing  aqua-regia. 

Aqua-regia,  which  is  an  old  name  for  nitro-muri- 
atic  acid,  is  composed  of  three  parts  of  muriatic  acid 
and  one  part  of  nitric  acid.  This  acid  or  combina¬ 
tion  is  used  for  dissolving  gold  and  testing  alloys  of 
14  karat  or  over. 

Sulphuric  acid  is  used  for  making  the  pickle  which 
is  used  for  cleaning  articles  after  they  have  been 
heated. 

It  may  be  well  to  state  here  that  should  any  acid, 
by  accident,  fly  into  the  eyes  of  the  workman  he 
should  immediately  rub  soap  and  water  into  the 
parts  afifected.  We  know  this  from  experience  to 
be  an  efficient  antidote. 

The  uses  of  alcohol  are  so  well  known  to  the 
trade  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  state  anything  about 
it  excepting  that  wood  alcohol,  which  is  only  one- 
half  as  expensive  as  grain  alcohol,  will  answer  just  -\ 
as  well  as  the  latter  for  the  jewelry  repairer’s  use. 

Ammonia  should  be  bought  pure  and  diluted  with 
four  times  its  volume  of  water.  This  will  be  found 
satisfactory  for  washing  jobs. 

Bi-carbonate  of  soda,  or  baking  soda,  is  used  for 
washing  dirty  and  slightly  tarnished  silver  ware. 

Benzine  is  used  mainly  for  removing  tripoli  from 
work  before  using  rouge. 

Canada  balsam,  which  can  be  obtained  in  any 


14  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


drug  store,  is  the  cement  used  for  cementing  bifocal 
lenses. 

Calcium  plaster,  or  plaster  of  paris,  is  used  for 
fastening  tops  on  vinaigrettes,  salt  shakers,  etc. 

Chloride  of  zinc  dissolved  in  alcohol  is  used  as  a 
soft-soldering  fluid.  It  can  be  purchased  at  any 
drug  store. 

Chloride  of  iron  is  used  for  oxidizing  brass 
buckles.  The  chloride  is  dissolved  in  water  and  then 
boiled.  While  boiling,  the  buckle  is  immersed  until 
the  desired  shade  is  obtained.  Should  a  darker 
shade  be  wanted,  dip  the  article  into  a  liver-of-sul- 
pliur  solution. 

Gum  mastic  is  the  best  cement  we  know  of  for 
cementing  pearls  on  pegs.  It  comes  in  “tears”  or 
balls  and  hardens  very  quickly. 

There  are  on  the  market  jewelry  soaps  and  washes 
of  various  descriptions,  but  for  every-day  use  in  the 
shop  and  store  we  prefer  Ivory  soap.  It  is  smooth, 
does  not  scratch  or  cause  the  work  to  tarnish  and  is 
nice  for  cleaning  the  hands  and  face. 

Shellac  is  used  principally  for  fastening  braid  in 
the  metal  ends,  for  guards. 

Sulphate  of  iron  is  used  for  precipitating  gold  held 
in  solution  and  for  making  soft-solder  destroyer. 

Saltpetre  is  used  as  a  flux  for  refining  purposes. 

A  piece  of  sal-ammoniac  is  the  handiest  thing  for 
tinning  a  soft-soldering  iron.  Moisten  the  sal-am¬ 
moniac  with  the  soldering-fluid  and  then  rub  the 
heated  iron  and  a  piece  of  soft-solder  over  it. 

Sulphuret  of  potash,  or  liver-of-sulphur  is  used  for 
oxidizing  articles  of  silver.  It  should  be  kept  tight¬ 
ly  corked  in  a  bottle  and  can  be  used  in  either  of  two 
ways:  Place  a  small  piece  in  a  boiling-cup  and  add 
some  water,  then  slowly  heat  and  immerse  the  ar¬ 
ticle  ;  or  dissolve  it  in  water  and  place  it  in  a  bottle 
to  be  used  when  wanted. 

Washing  soda  is  very  useful  for  removing  pickle 


ASSAY  TABLES. 


15 


from  hollow  goods.  Place  the  articles  in  a  bowl  of 
warm  water  and  add  washing  soda  until  all  bubbling 
ceases. 

In  all  Government  assay  reports  the  proportion  is 


given  in  fine  gold  and  by  thousandths, 
sandths  reduced  to  karats  equal: 

Thus  thou- 

1,000 

or  24k. ^ 

•5°° 

or 

I2k.\ 

•958  i-3 

“  23k. 

•458  i-3 

a 

Ilk. 

.9 1 6  2-3 

“  22k. 

.4162-3 

C( 

1  ok. 

•875 

“  21k. 

•375 

u 

9k.  ^  • 

•833  i-3 

“  20k. 

•333  i-3 

u 

8k. 

.791  2-3 

“  19k. 

.291  2-3 

u 

yk. 

•750 

“  1 8k. 

.250 

a 

6k. 

.708  1-3 

“  17k. 

.208  1-3 

u 

5k- 

.666  2-3 

“  1 6k. 

.166  2-3 

u 

4k. 

.625 

“  15k. 

•125 

u 

3k- 

•583ti-3 

“  14k. 

•83  i-3 

a 

2k. 

;54i,2-3 

"  i3k. 

.  41,2-3 

a 

ik. 

Coin  gold 

is  .900  fine, 

which  is  e 

quivalent  to 

21  3;5k, 

Silver  coin,  also,  is  .900  fine ;  while  sterling  silver 
.  is  .925  fine. 

Sterling  silver  is  so  called  from  the  fact  that  the 
Easterlings — inhabitants  of  Eastern  Germany  in  the 
12th  and  13th  centuries — were  noted  for  the  purity 
of  their  alloys,  and  especially  of  their  silver.  Hence 
the  name. 

Troy  Weight. 

24  grains  =  1  dwt. 

20  dwts.  =1  oz. 

12  oz.  =1  lb. 

One  cubic  inch  of  pure  gold  weighs  8.4  oz. 

One  cubic  inch  of  pure  silver  weighs  4.56  oz. 

l)  5  x 


o 


1G 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


RECIPES. 

Anti-oxidizer :  There  have  been  very  many  pub¬ 
lished  recipes  for  anti-oxidizing  solutions,  chief  of 
which  was  one  consisting  of  ocher  and  borax.  This 
preparation  is  alright  but  too  dirty  for  the  jobbing- 
jeweler.  The  following  recipes  have  been  in  use  for 
years  and  found  to  be  perfectly  satisfactory: 

A  good  anti-oxidizer  is  made  by  taking  four 
ounces  of  rain  water  and  putting  in  as  much  boric 
acid  as  will  dissolve.  Then  add  one-fourth  ounce 
of  pulverized  borax.  To  apply,  heat  the  article  and 
when  warm,  paint  it  with  a  camel’s-hair  brush  which 
has  been  dipped  in  the  solution.  This  preparation 
is  very  good  for  engraved  band  rings  and  all  articles 
which  do  not  contain  stones.  But  should  it  be  de¬ 
sired  to  anti-oxidize  an  article  containing  stones,  the 
following  solution  should  be  used:  Take  an  ounce 
of  alcohol — grain  or  wood — and  put  in  as  much 
boric  acid  as  will  dissolve.  To  apply,  dip  the  article 
into  the  solution ;  remove  and  ignite,  when  it  will 
burn  off  with  a  green  flame  and  leave  a  thin,  white, 
uniform  coating  upon  the  article  to  be  repaired. 
Should  a  transparent  anti-oxidizer  be  desired  add 
ammonia,  largely  diluted  with  water,  to  the  latter 
solution  until  it  becomes  perfectly  clear.  Before  ap¬ 
plying  be  sure  to  have  the  article  perfectly  clean. 
Paint  it  with  a  camel’s-hair  brush  moistened  with 
the  liquid  and  place  on  a  warm  piece  of  charcoal  to 
dry.  When  dry  do  not  handle  the  article  more  than 
is  absolutely  necessary. 

Blue  Remover :  Blue  remover  is  made  of  equal 
parts  of  elixir  of  vitriol  and  muriatic  acid. 

Pickle :  Pickle  is  prepared  by  mixing  i  part  of  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  and  20  parts  of  water. 

Oxidizing  Solutions:  No.  1:  Place  the  article  to 
be  oxidized  in  a  solution  of  liver  of  sulphur  (sul- 


RECIPES. 


17 


phuret  of  potash)  diluted  with  spirit  of  sal-ammon¬ 
iac.  No.  2:  Saltpetre,  1  part;  sal-ammonniac,  2 
parts;  sulphate  of  copper,  2  parts.  These  ingredi¬ 
ents  are  reduced  to  a  fine  powder  and  dissolved  in 
acetic  acid.  No.  3:  Place  a  small  piece  of  sulphu- 
ret  of  potash  in  a  boiling  cup  and  add  about  an 
ounce  of  water.  Heat,  but  do  not  boil  the  mixture 
and  immerse  the  article  to  be  oxidized. 

Lens  Drilling  Fluids :  No.  1  :  Oil  of  camphor  and 
sweet  oil,  equal  parts.  No.  2:  Turpentine  and  oil  of 
camphor,  equal  parts. 

Soft-soldering  Fluid:  Soft-soldering  fluid  is  gen¬ 
erally  made  by  dissolving  small  pieces  of  zinc  in 
muriatic  acid  until  all  effervescence  ceases;  after 
which  a  small  amount  of  sal-ammoniac  is  added. 
Another  way  to  make  this  fluid  is  to  dissolve  a  small 
amount  of  chloride  of  zinc  in  alcohol. 

Soft-solder  Destroyer:  Many  jewelers  use  nothing 
but  muriatic  acid  to  remove  soft-solder  from  articles 
to  be  repaired  but,  in  all  our  experience,  we  have 
not  found  anything  to  equal  the  formula  of  George 
E.  Gee ;  therefore  we  give  it  in  its  entirety : 


Proto-sulphate  of  iron .  2  oz. 

Nitrate  of  potassa .  1  oz. 

Water . 10  oz. 


13  oz. 

Reduce  the  proto-sulphate  of  iron  (green  copperas) 
and  nitrate  of  potassa  (saltpetre)  to  a  fine  powder, 
then  add  these  ingredients  to  the  wrater,  and  boil  the 
preparation  in  a  cast-iron  saucepan  for  some  time ; 
afterwards  allow  the  liquid  to  cool,  and  in  doing  so 
it  will  shoot  into  fine  crystals;  if  any  of  the  liquid 
should  remain  uncrystallized,  pour  it  from  the  crys¬ 
tals  and  again  heat  it,  when,  on  cooling  a  second 
time,  it  will  all  have  become  crystallized.  The  crys¬ 
tallized  salt  should  then  be  taken  and  dissolved  in 


18 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


muriatic  acid,  in  the  proportion  of  i  ounce  of  salt  to 
8  ounces  of  acid.  Now  take  of  the  latter  prepara¬ 
tion  i  ounce,  and  add  it  to  4  ounces  of  boiling  water 
in  a  pipkin,  keeping  up  the  heat  by  means  already 
stated.  In  a  short  space  of  time  the  most  obstinate 
cases  of  soft-solder  will  be  cleanly  and  entirely  re¬ 
moved  and  without  the  work  changing  color,  if  the 
instructions  are  properly  carried  out  in  preparing 
the  mixture,  etc. 

Solution  for  Removing  Cement  from  Work:  A 
substitute  for  alcohol  for  removing  cement  from 


work  is  made  of : 

Rainwater . 1  gallon 

Lime  . 2  pounds 

Washing  soda  . 1  pound 


Slack  the  lime  in  rain  water.  Then  pour  off  the 
liquid  and  in  it  boil  the  washing  soda  for  one  hour. 
To  use,  place  the  articles  to  be  cleaned  in  a  boiling- 
cup  and  cover  with  the  liquid,  which  is  heated  to 
the  boiling  point.  Then  rinse  in  water  and  dry. 

A  Good  Silver  Cleanser  is  made  of  the  following: 


Rain  water . 11  oz. 

Crystallized  nitrate  of  silver .  1  oz. 

Cyanide  of  potassium  . 2 y2  oz. 

Powdered  chalk .  5  oz. 

Cream  of  tartar  . 1-16  oz. 

Table  salt  . oz. 


TESTING  ACIDS. 

The  U.  S.  Mint  Test  for  gold  coin  is  composed  of: 

Strong  nitric  acid . 6 drachms 

Muriatic  acid  . 1-6  drachm 

Pure  water  . 1  2-3  drachm 

The  U.  S.  Mint  Test  for  silver  is  composed  of: 

Nitrate  of  silver . 24  grains 

Nitric  acid  . 10  drops 

Water  .  1  ounce 

If  the  coin  is  of  base  metal  it  will  at  once  turn  black. 


TESTING  ACIDS. 


19 


For  buying  in  old  gold  the  jeweler  will  need  two 
different  kinds  of  acid — strong  and  weak,  or  more 
generally  known  as  straw-colored  and  white.  The 
straw-colored  is  the  nitro-nniriatic  acid  previously 
mentioned  and  the  white  acid  is  chemically  pure 
nitric  acid. 

To  test  gold  of  any  karat  rub  the  article  on  the 
testing  stone  and  the  ends  of  two  or  more  needles 
that  are  supposed  to  be  nearly  the  same  quality. 
Then  apply  the  testing  acid  and  the  article  will  be 
of  the  same  quality  as  the  needle  whose  mark  dis¬ 
appears  at  the  same  time. 

Thus  for  testing  18k.,  rub  the  18k.  test  on  the 
stone  and  the  article  to  be  tried  next  to  it.  Then 
with  the  stopper  put  some  of  the  straw-colored  acid 
over  both  rubs  at  the  same  time.  If  the  article 
tried  is  18k.  the  acid  will  not  affect  it,  but  will  with¬ 
stand  it  the  same  as  the  test  does;  if  not  18k.  the 
acid  will  cause  it  to  turn  red. 

From  the  description  given  for  testing  18k.  the 
reader  can  easily  ascertain  the  quality  of  any  other 
alloy.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  nitric 
or  white  acid  should  be  used  for  testing  gold- 14k. 
fine  or  less.  Always  keep  the  testing  stone  and 
needles  free  from  dirt  and  grease. 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  RING. 

The  reader  being  acquainted  with  the  tools  and 
chemicals  needed  for  the  making  and  repairing  of 
jewelry,  we  will  now  explain  the  methods  employed 
in  the  making  of  a  flat  band  ring  which  will  illus- 
rate  many  points  in  jewelry  making. 

The  first  thing  to  be  considered  is  the  gold.  If 
old  gold  is  used,  we  generally  take  gold  of  the  karat 
desired,  but  when  all  the  old  gold  is  of  a  lower 
karat,  we  must  add  a  certain  amount  of  pure  gold 


20  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


to  raise  the  old  gold  to  the  fineness  desired.  For 
instance,  suppose  we  have  a  lot  of  8k.  spectacle 
frames  which  we  desire  to  make  up  into  14k.  rings. 
The  gold  spectacle  frames  must  be  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  all  solder,  rivets  and  screws  removed, 
and  then  the  gold  is  accurately  weighed  and  the  re¬ 
sult  noted;  suppose  it  weighs  12  dwts.  Then,  by 
using  the  numeral  20  as  a  multiplier — which  will 
always  be  constant,  because  it  represents  the  num¬ 
ber  of  pennyweights  in  an  ounce — we  determine  the 
amount  of  fine  gold  to  be  added  by  the  following 
example : 

20  X  14  =  280 
20  X  8  =  160 
280  —  160  =  120 
120  — -  10  =  12 

Therefore,  it  is  seen  that  to  every  ounce  of  8k.  gold 
must  be  added  12  dwts.  of  fine  gold  to  raise  it  to  14k. 
Thus,  in  the  example  above  cited,  7  1-5  dwts.  of  fine 
gold  must  be  added  to  the  12  dwts.  of  8k.  gold  to 
raise  it  to  14k. 

The  divisor,  10,  of  the  example  is  the  difference 
between  the  quality  to  be  made  and  24,  which  rep¬ 
resents  the  number  of  karats ;  thus  we  see  that  the 
divisor  will  always  represent  the  difference  between 
the  quality  as  improved  by  the  addition  of  fine  gold 
and  24. 

If  new  gold  or  coin  is  used  it  must  be  reduced  to 
the  karat  desired  by  adding  to  it  copper  and  silver 
instead  of  fine  gold,  as  in  the  former  case.  Suppose 
it  is  desired  to  reduce  12  dwts.  of  coin — which  is 
.  nearly  22k.  fine;  213-5  to  be  exact — to  14k.  By 
,  using  the  number  20  as  a  multiplier,  we  find  that 

20  X  22  =  440 
20  X  14  =  280 
440  —  280  =  160 
160  -A-  14  =  1 1  3-7. 

Therefore,  we  find  that  to  every  ounce  of  coin  must 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  RING 


be  added  u  3-7  dwts.  of  silver  and  copper  in  order 
to  reduce  it  to  14k.  gold. 

In  this  case  we  desired  to  reduce  12  dwts.  of  coin 
and  the  amount  of  alloy  to  be  added  would  be  66-7 
dwts. 

In  reducing  gold  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  divisor 
always  must  be  the  karat  of  gold  reduced. 

The  gold  and  required  alloys  being  made  ready, 
we  proceed  with  the  melting.  This  may  be  done  in 
crucibles  when  there  is  a  forge  in  the  shop,  but  in 
many  places  the  workman  has  nothing  but  his  lamp, 
blowing-pipe  and  a  piece  of  charcoal.  Before  plac¬ 
ing  the  gold  and  alloys  in  the  crucible,  the  latter 
should  be  rut-bed  well  on  the  inside  with  charcoal 
to  prevent  the  borax — which  is  used  as  a  flux — and 
the  gold  from  adhering  to  the  sides  and  bottom. 
Then  the  crucible  containing  the  metal  is  placed  in 
the  forge  and  the  fire  is  started.  The  fuel  generally 
used  is  gas,  which  is  blown  with  great  force  by  a 
blower  connected  with  the  forge.  In  some  places 
charcoal  forges  are  still  used  for  melting  purposes. 

While  the  gold  is  melting,  adjust  the  ingot  mould 
to  the  width  desired,  and  after  slightly  oiling  it, 
place  it  near  the  forge  to  become  heated  just  so  the 
hand  can  touch  it  and  not  be  burned.  Then  when 
the  gold  is  thoroughly  melted,  which  is  known  when 
it  becomes  perfectly  clear  on  the  top,  it  should  be 
stirred  well  to  mix  the  several  alloys  and  then,  while 
removing  the  crucible  from  the  fire,  a  small  piece 
of  beeswax  should  be  dropped  onto  the  molten  mass. 
This  will  exclude  air  and  prevent  oxidation. 

The  casting  of  gold  into  the  ingot-mould  is  a  deli¬ 
cate  operation  and  requires  a  steady  hand ;  other¬ 
wise  the  gold  would  be  spilled  around  on  the  forge. 
After  the  gold  is  cast,  it  should  be  removed  from  the 
ingot-mould  and  cooled  in  water  so  that  it  may  be 
readily  handled.  Then  the  edges  and  corners  are 
filed  and  hammered  to  remove  all  small  pieces  which 


22 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK 


would  otherwise  be  lost  while  the  bar  or  strip  was  ■ 
being  rolled. 

But  where  the  workman  does  not  have  these  ap¬ 
pliances  and  must  do  his  melting  on  charcoal,  he 
must  proceed  in  a  different  manner.  First,  he 
should  secure  two  large  pieces  of  charcoal — we 
would  suggest  prepared  charcoal,  which  can  be  ob¬ 
tained  in  blocks  of  the  desired  shape — and  rub  a  flat 
surface  on  each.  At  the  end  of  one  of  the  flat  sur¬ 
faces  should  be  cut  a  hole  sufficiently  large  to  re¬ 
ceive  the  gold  and  alloys. 

Now  a  mould  or  form  should  be  made  from  a 
strip  of  sheet  iron,  about  6  inches  long,  and  from 
1-16  to  of  inch  wide.  This  should  be  bern  with 
square  corners  to  form  an  oblong  mould  whose 
ends  should  extend  out  to  guide  the  molten  mass 
into  the  form.  This  done,  the  workman  should 
make  12  or  more  saw-cuts  crosswise  on  the  flat  sur¬ 
face  of  each  block  and  then  place  his  form  in  posi¬ 
tion  with  the  extended  ends  near  the  hollowed  part, 
and  then  place  the  second  piece  of  charcoal  on  top 
of  the  form  and  bind  all  together  securely  with 
strong  binding  wire. 

All  is  now  ready  to  melt  and  cast  the  gold.  Place 
it  and  the  alloys — which  should  be  well  mixed — and 
a  small  piece  of  borax  into  the  hollow  and  blow  a 
strong,  steady  flame  onto  the  mass  until  it  is  thor¬ 
oughly  melted ;  at  the  same  time  agitate  it  con¬ 
stantly  to  insure  its  becoming  thoroughly  incor¬ 
porated.  When  the  molten  mass  begins  to  churn 
and  becomes  perfectly  clear  on  the  top  it  is  ready 
to  be  cast. 

This  operation  is  'as  delicate  as  casting  into  an 
ingot-mould,  and  in  many  cases  even  more  so. 
When  satisfied  that  all  is  right,  the  charcoal-block 
should  be  tilted  sufficiently  to  allow  the  mass  to  run 
into  the  form,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  in  the  mould 
should  be  turned  up  perpendicularly  and  tapped 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  RING. 


23 


slightly  with  the  blowpipe  to  settle  the  gold.  Al¬ 
low  it  to  cool,  cut  the  binding  wire,  remove  the  bar 
and  trim  and  hammer  as  explained  heretofore. 

To  melt  gold  in  this  way  requires  considerable 
practice  with  the  blowpipe,  so  that  one  might  blow 
a  steady  current  of  air  through  it,  and  at  the  same 
time  breathe  through  the  nostrils.  Many  jewelers 
cannot  do  this,  but  where  practice  is  persisted  n: 
the  result  can  be  accomplished. 

If  the  reader  will  close  his  mouth  and  fill  his 
cheeks  with  air  until  they  are  distended,  he  will 
find  that  lie  can  close  the  passage  between  the 
mouth  and  throat  so  that  while  he  is  breathing 
through  the  nose  the  cheeks  will  remain  full.  Then 
if  a  blowpipe  is  inserted  and  the  passage  closed  the 
blowpipe  will  not  permit  the  air  to  escape  from  the 
cheeks  so  rapidly  but  that  the  lungs  may  be  filled 
by  breathing  through  the  nose,  while  the  muscles 
of  the  cheeks  are  forcing  the  air  out  through  the 
blowpipe.  Then,  when  the  lungs  are  filled  the  pas¬ 
sage  is  opened  and  the  cheeks  refilled. 

Now  we  are  ready  to  roll  or  hammer  the  gold, 
which  is  done  by  passing  it  through  two  steel  roll¬ 
ers  which  are  pressed  closer  together  by  screws 
after  each  passage  of  the  strip  or  bar.  After  being 
rolled  several  times,  the  gold  becomes  exceedingly 
hard  and  sometimes  cracks.  To  prevent  this  the  bar 
should  be  frequently  annealed.  After  the  strip  is 
annealed,  it  is  rolled  or  hammered  to  the  desired 
thickness,  after  which  it  is  annealed  and  boiled  out 
in  sulphuric  acid  pickle.  To  make  a  ring  a  strip  of 
gold  should  be  cut  about  three  inches  long  and 
somewhat  wider  than  the  desired  width  of  the  ring 
to  be  made. 

Suppose  the  ring  is  to  be  made  size  8.  On  the 
top  of  every  Allen  ring  gauge  will  be  found  a  scale 
from  i  to  13.  To  make  a  ring  size  8,  the  end  of  the 
strip  of  gold  should  be  placed  at  the  end  of  the 


24  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


metal  forminsr  the  gauge  and  then  a  line  should  be 
drawn  across  the  strip  of  gold.  Then  at  8,  on  the 
top  scale,  draw  a  similar  line  across  the  strip  and 
when  the  ring  is  made  up — providing  due  care  has 
been  taken — it  will  measure  8  exactly.  But  broad 
rings  should  have  an  allowance  of  about  one-half 
a  size,  when  marking  off  the  strips.  In  this  case 
the  strip  would  measure  8j/>  and  when  the  ring  was 
made  up  the  reader  would  find  the  ring  to  measure 
8  exactly.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  clerks  should 
notice  whether  they  are  using  wide  or  narrow  size 
rings  when  taking  the  size  needed  by  a  customer. 
In  this  connection  it  should  be  mentioned  that  in 
shops,  the  reading  is  taken  at  the  lower  edge  of  the 
ring  and  not  in  the  middle,  as  is  sometimes  claimed. 

After  the  strip  of  gold  is  marked  to  the  desired 
size,  take  a  pair  of  half-round  pliers,  or,  if  the  ring 
is  very  heavy,  take  the  pendant  bow  contractor  and 
bend  the  strip  into  an  ellipse.  Then,  with  the  saw 
or  shears,  cut  off  the  surplus  gold  at  the  marks 
made  on  the  strip.  Now  with  a  flat  or  barrette  file, 
file  the  joints  smooth  and  be  very  careful  to  keep 
them  free  from  grease  and  dirt.  This  done,  join  the 
two  ends  with  the  pliers  or  bow  contractor.  Now 
mix  up  some  borax  paste  and  paint  the  joint  well 
and  lay  on  a  small  piece  of  solder.  Many  jewelers 
use  solder  made  by  taking  the  gold  they  are  work¬ 
ing  and  reducing  it  two  karats.  The  reader  can 
easily  do  this  by  following  the  instructions  given 
for  reducing  a  higher  karat  of  gold  to  a  lower.  In¬ 
stead  of  using  all  copper  and  silver  a  small  amount 
of  brass  should  be  added  to  the  alloy. 

Cadmium  solder  is  used  a  great  deal,  and  this 
the  jeweler  can  make  by  taking  gold  of  any  alloy 
and,  after  weighing,  melt  it.  When  in  a  perfectly 
liquid  state,  he  should  add  one-fourth  its  weight  of 
cadmium,  stir  the  mixture  well  and  pour  very 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  RING. 


2S 

quickly,  as  the  cadmium  is  dissipated  at  so  high  a 
temperature. 

The  borax  and  solder  having  dried  on  the  ring, 
lay  the  latter  on  a  piece  of  charcoal  and  gently  heat 
it,  first  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  joint,  then  the 
whole  ring,  until  the  solder  melts  and  flows  down 
through  the  entire  joint.  Allow  the  ring  to  cool, 
and  then  boil  it  out  in  the  sulphuric  acid  pickle. 
If  the  gold  is  iok.  fine  the  color,  after  being  boiled 
out,  will  be  red,  and  the  finer  the  gold  the  lighter 
will  be  the  color.  This  is  due  to  a  lesser  amount  of 
copper  in  the  alloys.  After  the  ring  is  boiled  out  it 
is  washed  and  dried.  After  this  the  solder  is  filed 
out  nice  and  smooth  on  the  inside  of  the  ring  with 
a  fine  half-round  file.  The  ring  is  then  ready  to  be 
rounded  up.  This  is  done  by  placing  it  on  the 
mandril,  which,  in  factories,  rests  on  a  gum  tree 
block,  and  striking  the  ring  on  all  sides  with  a  raw- 
hide  mallet. 

This  operation  requires  considerable  skill  and 
practice,  because  the  mandril  must  be  held  in  the 
palm  of  the  left  hand  and  given  a  revolving  motion, 
so  that  the  mallet,  which  is  held  in  the  right  hand, 
will  strike  all  parts  of  the  ring  and  make  it  per¬ 
fectly  round.  Now,  suppose  the  band  ring  was  to 
be  size  8  full  and,  after  being  rounded  up,  it  meas¬ 
ures  7^4.  To  make  it  size  8  full,  we  must  use  the 
steel  hammer,  and  with  careful,  sharp  blows,  which 
must  be  given  around  the  entire  surface  of  the  ring, 
we  draw  it  up  to  the  required  size. 

In  sizing  rings  of  this  kind  the  writer  prefers  this 
method,  because  it  leaves  one  joint  only  in  the  ring, 
and  consequently  the  latter  is  not  so  liable  to  break 
while  being  worn.  When  the  required  size  is  ob¬ 
tained  the  sides  of  the  ring  are  filed  flat  and  smooth 
until  the  desired  width  is  obtained.  This  done,  the 
surface  of  the  ring  is  filed  flat  and  smooth,  so  that 
it  may  be  easily  polished.  To  file  a  ring  of  this 


26  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


kind,  hold  it  between  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the 
left  hand  with  the  ring  resting  against  the  bench 
pin.  Then  with  a  fine  half-round  file  begin  to  file 
the  surface  flat  and  slightly  hollow  from  the  mid¬ 
dle  to  the  edge  of  the  ring.  To  do  this  push  the 
file  from  the  body  and  at  the  same  time  give  the 
ring  a  circular  motion  toward  the  body,  and  vice 
versa.  Care  should  be  taken  to  keep  the  ring  the 
same  thickness  in  all  its  parts.  This  seems  to  be  a 
difficult  matter  for  some  ring  makers — possibly  ap¬ 
prentices — judging  from  the  number  of  rings  that 
we  have  seen  that  are  thinner  at  the  joints  than 
anywhere  else.  This  is  due  quite  often  to  the  fact 
that  one  end  is  rolled  or  pressed  harder  than  the 
other,  or  the  joint  may  not  have  been  properly 
made  and  the  jeweler  filed  away  too  much  of  the 
surface  with  the  solder. 

Engraved  band  rings  are  made  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner  as  the  flat  bands,  excepting  that  the  flat  strip 
of  gold  is  given  its  impression  by  rolling  it  in  a 
small  steel  die,  which  makes  the  imprint  in  the 
strip. 

Plain  or  half-round  band  rings  are  made  in  the  • 
same  manner  as  flat  bands,  excepting  that  they  are 
considerably  thicker  and  are  filed  or  turned  half- 
round. 

In  ring  shops  plain  rings  are  made  by  rolling 
long  strips  of  gold  through  a  pair  of  rolls,  the  lower 
one  of  which  is  grooved  the  desired  shape  of  the 
ring. 

The  rings  we  have  mentioned  are  now  ready  for 
the  polisher,  excepting  the  engraved  band  rings, 
which  must  have  the  green  color  removed.  This 
is  done  by  heating  the  ring  to  redness  and  plunging 
it  into  alcohol.  We  will  describe  the  polishing  ot 
these  rings  under  the  head  of  “Polishing.” 


/ 

i 

N. 


SPECTACLE  AND  EYEGLASS  FRAME 
REPAIRING. 


There  is  probably  no  more  difficult  job  for  the 
average  jewelry  repairer  than  that  found  in  a 
broken  spectacle  frame,  and  especially  so  in  one 
that  has  been  broken  and  repaired  near  one  place 
several  times  before. 

If  the  reader  will  note  where  spectacle  frames 
are  generally  broken,  he  will  see  that  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  all  frames  are  broken  on  the  left  side, 
either  in  the  nose  piece,  eye  wire  or  side  piece. 
This  is  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  manner  in  which  per¬ 
sons  put  on  and  remove  the  spectacles  from  their 
faces.  Another  fruitful  source  of  breakage  is  the 
incorrect  manner  of  holding  spectacle  frames  while 
cleaning  the  lenses.  Persons,  as  a  rule,  hold  the 
frames  by  the  nose  piece  while  wiping  the  lenses. 
This  is  wrong,  for  by  so  doing  the  frame  is  given 
a  severe  strain  which  may  cause  it  to  break  in  the 
eye  wire.  The  correct  way  to  wipe  the  lenses  is 
to  hold  the  frame  by  the  joints.  This  will  relieve 
the  frame  of  nearly  all  strain  and  reduce  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  breakage  to  a  minimum. 

Each  time  a  spectacle  frame  is  repaired  it  is  pol¬ 
ished  and,  consequently,  it  is  made  somewhat 
weaker,  as  all  polishing  cuts  away  more  or  less  of 
the  metal. 

In  repairing  a  spectacle  frame  the  workman  must 
leave  it  as  strong,  if  not  stronger,  at  the  place 
where  it  had  been  broken,  than  it  was  before. 
This  is  an  easy  matter  if  due  care  be  taken 
in  soldering,  filing  and  polishing.  In  illustration, 
we  will  take  a  io-karat  frame,  which  has  been 
broken  at  any  place  in  the  frame — in  this  case,  in 
the  eye  wire  near  the  nose  piece. 


28  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


I  he  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  secure  a  nice,  flat 
piece  of  charcoal  or  any  other  kind  of  soldering 
block,  and  some  sprigs,  which  can  be  made  of  bind¬ 
ing  wire  and  are  used  to  hold  the  frame  and  broken 
ends  in  position  on  the  soldering  block.  Then, 
these  being  in  readiness,  clean  the  broken  edges 
with  a  file  or  scraper,  and  securely  fasten  the  frame 
on  the  soldering  block  so  that  the  broken  edges 
meet  but  do  not  press  tightly  against  each  other ; 
otherwise  in  soldering  the  frame  the  ends  would 
unite  and  spring  into  a  V-shape  and  cause  consid¬ 
erable  trouble.  When  the  frame  is  secured  on  the 
soldering  block,  prepare  the  borax  paste  by  plac¬ 
ing  several  drops  of  water  on  the  plate  and  rubbing 
the  cake  of  borax  in  it  until  a  thin  paste  is  formed. 

Then  cut  the  solder  and  after  moistening  the 
joint  with  a  camel’s-hair  brush,  apply  the  solder 
with  the  moist  end  of  the  brush,  or  with  a  pair  of 
tweezers.  Then,  with  an  easy  flame,  heat  the 
solder  and  as  little  as  possible  of  the  frame  on  either 
side  of  the  joint,  until  the  solder  flows.  After  the 
solder  flows  examine  the  joint  to  ascertain  if  it  is 
perfectly  united  and,  if  so,  remove  the  frame  from 
the  soldering  block  and  pour  heated  pickle  over  the 
joint  to  remove  the  borax  and  fire-coat.  But  if  the 
joint  be  not  perfectly  united  re-borax  and  reheat 
the  frame  and  cause  the  solder  to  flow.  If  not  satis¬ 
factory  this  time  remove  the  frame  from  the 
charcoal,  clean  it  and  proceed  as  before.  It  may 
be  well  to  state  that  the  repairer  will  not  have 
much  trouble  in  this  direction  if  the  manipula¬ 
tion  of  the  flame  is  thoroughly  understood  and 
proper  care  is  taken  in  regard  to  keeping 
the  work  clean.  Be  sure  that  there  is  no  foreign 
matter  in  the  water  or  on  the  borax  slate  which 
could  get  into  the  paste.  It  is  also  advisable  that 
the  fingers  do  not  touch  the  parts  to  be  joined,  as 


SPECTACLE  AND  EYEGLASS  REPAIRING. 


29 


the  grease  and  perspiration  from  one’s  fingers  will 
prevent  the  solder  flowing. 

As  stated  before,  in  all  speetacle  repairing  the 
workman  should  endeavor  to  leave  the  joint  as 
strong  and  as  neat  as  possible.  To  do  this,  the 
solder  should  be  the  very  best  obtainable,  and  in 
this  connection  we  wish  to  state  that  no  good  re¬ 
pairer  of  spectacles  or  jewelry  will  use  silver  solder 
on  gold  work.  This  might  be  excused  on  work 
where  it  does  not  show  and  is  gilded  afterward,  but 
even  this  should  not  be  done.  The  solder  should  be 
placed  on  the  outside  of  the  eye  wire,  when  the 
break  is  in  the  eye  wire — and  allowd  to  melt  and 
flow  through  to  the  inside  of  the  eye  wire.  In  this 
manner  the  solder  will  flush  the  joint  on  the  out¬ 
side  as  well  as  in  the  inside.  The  surplus  solder  on 
the  outside  can  easily  be  filed  so  that  the  place  of 
the  break  will  be  thicker  after  it  is  repaired  than 
the  other  part  of  the  eye  wire.  Of  course,  a  lump 
of  solder  should  not  be  left  large  enough  to  attract 
attention.  The  solder  which  flows  on  the  inside  of 
the  eye  wire  can  easily  be  removed  by  cutting- 
crosswise  inside  the  eye  wire  with  a  flat  graver, 
or  lengthwise  with  a  round  graver  similar  in  shape 
to  an  inside  ring  graver. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  describe  the  method  of 
soldering  different  breaks  in  the  spectacle  frames,  as 
one  generally  proceeds  in  the  same  manner  in  re¬ 
pairing  all  breaks,  no  matter  where  they  may  be. 
To  the  beginner  we  would  state  that  he  should  not 
endeavor  to  do  his  work  too  rapidly,  because  he  may 
then  slight  it,  in  which  case  he  coidd  not  hope  to  be¬ 
come  an  expert  at  this  work.  As  will  be  learned 
from  actual  experience,  the  method  described  for  re¬ 
pairing  the  frames  of  spectacles  is  a  good  one  for 
the  average  repairer  who  is  not  pushed  with  work. 
But  for  the  man  who  does  repair  work  for  the  trade 
this  method  is  entirely  too  slow;  therefore,  he  re- 


30  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


sorts  to  a  method  which  will  not  necessitate  the  pin¬ 
ning  of  the  work  onto  a  soldering  block. 

To  illustrate  the  method  of  doing  this  work,  we 
will  take  a  pair  of  io-karat  spectacle  frames  that 
nave  been  broken  at  the  small  bend  in  the  nose 
piece.  This  is  a  somewhat  difficult  job  to  pin  upon 
a  soldering  block,  as  the  nose  piece  quite  frequently 
is  higher  than  the  frame  and  consequently  a  groove 
must  he  cut  into  the  block.  But  by  holding  the  broken 
parts  in  the  fingers  the  work  is  greatly  simplified. 

After  removing  the  lens  from  the  side  nearest  the 
break,  the  broken  ends  are  filed  or  scraped  nice  and 
clean.  Then  the  borax  paste  is  ground  up  and  the 
solder  is  cut  into  pieces  of  the  desired  size.  Then 
the  two  ends  are  moistened  with  the  borax  paste 
and  a  piece  of  solder  applied,  either  with  the  moist 
borax  brush  or  with  a  pair  of  tweezers,  to  the  end 
which  will  be  above  when  the  pieces  are  being  held 
in  position  to  be  soldered  together.  In  our  experi¬ 
ence  we  have  found  this  to  be  the  best  way,  for  the 
solder  will  flow  downward  more  read  ly  than  it  will 
upward.  And,  again,  in  some  cases  solder  can  be 
drawn  to  its  proper  place  if  the  repairer  will  so  ma¬ 
nipulate  his  flame  and  have  the  place  to  be 
soldered  and  the  approach  to  it  heated  to  the  proper 
degree,  which  will  attract  the  solder  in  that  direc¬ 
tion.  This,  however,  requires  considerable  skill  and 
experience  and  is  not  easy  to  master.  When  the 
joint  is  prepared  and  the  solder  placed  in  position  on 
the  upper  end,  place  the  blowpipe  between  the  teeth 
and  hold  the  two  parts  of  the  broken  frame  between 
the  forefinger  and  thumb  of  each  hand  so  that  the 
edges  will  meet  perfectly.  To  do  this  the  hands  and 
frame  can  be  steadied  considerably  if  the  small 
fingers  of  each  hand  are  extended  so  that  they  meet. 
Another  way  is  to  allow  the  small  finger  of  the  left 
hand  to  touch  or  rest  aga:nst  any  convenient  sup¬ 
port,  as  the  bench,  vise,  etc. 


SPECTACLE  AND  EYEGLASS  REPAIRING.  31 


Then  when  the  ends  are  in  the  right  position, 
blow  an  easy,  steady  flame  onto  the  edges,  and  heat 
as  little  on  either  side  of  the  joint  as  possible — until 
the  solder  flows  through  and  around  the  break.  As 
soon  as  the  solder  flows  stop  blowing  and  pour 
pickle  over  the  joint,  which  will  remove  the  borax 
and  fire  coat.  A  pair  of  spectacles  should  never  be 
allowed  to  lie  in  or  be  dipped  into  the  pickle  bath, 
as  the  acid  will  attack  the  steel  rivets  and  screws  and 
cause  the  gold  to  become  coated  very  red.  One  can 
easily  see  that  the  latter  method  of  soldering  would 
be  difficult  for  the  beginner,  but  after  some  practice 
it  can  be  mastered  by  any  persevering  workman. 
The  reader  also  can  see  that  this  way  of  soldering  is 
very  rapid  and  useful  for  soldering  the  eye  wire,  no 
matter  where  broken  ;  for  soldering  on  broken  off 
joints  or  end  pieces,  in  which  case  the  end  piece  is 
perfectly  cleaned  and  the  solder  is  laid  on  the  eye 
wire,  which  has  been  moistened  with  the  borax 
paste.  Then  the  frame  is  held  in  the  left  hand  and 
the  end  piece  in  a  pair  of  tweezers  is  held  in  the 
right  hand,  and,  with  the  blow  pipe  between  the 
teeth,  the  work  is  easily  and  quickly  done.  Side 
pieces  are  held  in  the  same  manner  to  be  repaired. 

The  question  has  often  been  raised  as  to  the  best 
way  to  repair  broken  side  pieces.  Some  repairers 
place  ferrules  over  the  broken  parts  and  solder  with 
soft  solder.  This  is  a  questionable  practice  and  is 
condemned  by  every  workman  who  takes  pride  in 
his  work.  Others  claim  that  to  file  the  ends  off 
even  and  to  solder,  after  which  the  solder  is  allowed 
to  remain  so  that  the  break  will  be  in  the  middle  of 
the  circular  lump,  is  the  best  way.  This  is  a  very 
good  way,  but  our  experience  has  shown  us  that  the 
best  joint  in  side  pieces  is  made  by  beveling  each 
end  so  that  the  ends  will  over-lap  and  at  the  same 
time  retain  the  thickness  of  the  side  piece.  Then, 
after  soldering,  the  surplus  solder  is  filed  off  nicely, 


32  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


so  that  it  does  not  have  a  lumpy  appearance.  Of 
course,  we  do  not  mean  to  hie  the  solder  ofif  en¬ 
tirely,  but  just  sufficiently  to  make  it  an  even  swell 
and  not  an  unsightly  lump.  The  beginner  should 
remove  side  pieces  to  repair  them,  but  more  ad¬ 
vanced  workmen  can  solder  a  break  three-fourths  of 
an  inch  or  less  from  the  end  piece  by  holding  the 
frame  in  his  fingers. 

All  spectacle  frames,  whether  gold,  gold  filled,  sil¬ 
ver,  steel  or  alumnico,  are  soldered  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner  as  the  gold  frames.  The  steel  and  alumnico 
frames  have  the  fire  coat  and  borax  removed  by  fil¬ 
ing  and  scraping  instead  of  being  cleaned  in  pickle. 
The  solder  used  on  gold  filled  frames  is  the  same  as 
used  on  gold  ones,  but  silver  solder  or  hue  brass 
wire  is  used  for  repairing  steel  spectacles.  Alum¬ 
nico  frames  are  soldered  with  silver  solder. 

When  the  frame  is  repaired  and  cleaned  with  the 
pickle  wash  it  with  water  and  dry  with  a  rag,  which 
should  be  kept  about  the  bench  for  that  purpose. 
The  frame  is  now  ready  to  be  trued  and  straight¬ 
ened — that  is,  the  middle  of  the  end  pieces  and  the 
axes  or  centers  of  the  lenses  should  be  in  a  straight 
line,  and  the  planes  or  top  surfaces  of  the  lenses 
should  be  in  a  straight  line  also.  It  is  very  im¬ 
portant  that  the  side  pieces  be  similar  in  curve  and 
shape  as  well  as  length,  and  when  lying  on  a  flat 
surface  the  curves  should  lie  evenly  upon  it. 

The  cards  which  wholesale  and  manufacturing 
opticians  issue  for  determining  the  pupillary  dis¬ 
tances  of  lenses  are  very  useful  as  straight  edges  or 
guides  for  truing  up  the  end  pieces  with  the  axes  of 
the  lenses.  A  simpler  and  quicker  method  for  the 
jewelry  repairer  is  to  use  a  saw  blade,  securely  fast¬ 
ened  and  taut  in  the  saw  frame,  as  a  straight  edge 
which  can  be  laid  on  the  top  of  the  frame,  and  is 
more  satisfactory  than  the  method  of  laying  the 
frame  on  the  line  of  the  card.  The  correctness  of 


SPECTACLE  AND  EYEGLASS  REPAIRING.  33 


the  planes  or  tof)  surfaces  of  the  lenses  can  be  de¬ 
termined  by  the  eye,  looking  from  one  end  piece  to 
the  other. 

To  slope  the  side  pieces  hold  the  frame  by  the 
end  pieces — with  the  side  pieces  curving  upward — ■ 
between  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the  left  hand ; 
and,  starting  near  the  end  piece,  move  the  fingers 
toward  its  extremity,  with  it  between  the  thumb  and 
forefinger  of  the  right  hand.  Should  it  be  desired 
to  increase  the  curve  move  the  forefinger  slightly 
in  advance  of  the  thumb.  To  decrease  the  curve  the 
thumb  should  be  in  advance. 

Frameless  spectacles  are  the  most  difficult  ones  to 
true  up  properly,  because  of  their  liability  to  break. 
Care  should  be  taken  that  there  is  no  strain  on  the 
glass  anywhere,  and  especially  at  the  straps  which 
steady  the  glass.  Before  attempting  to  straighten 
frameless  spectacles  or  eyeglasses  see  that  the  ends 
of  the  straps  fit  the  edges  of  the  lenses  perfectly,  so 
that  the  lenses  will  be  firm.  Then  care  should  be 
taken  that  the  screw  will  not  draw  upon  the  lens 
too  tightly ;  if  so,  it  should  be  taken  out  and  the  end 
of  the  strap  bent  slightly  or  the  hole  filed  somewhat, 
and  the  screw  again  inserted.  If  this  were  not  done 
the  lens  would  be  liable  to  break  at  any  time. 

Eyeglasses  are  usually  broken  in  the  spring  or  in 
the  eye  wire.  These  breaks  are  easily  repaired  by 
taking  the  frame  apart  and  pinning  the  broken  parts 
together  on  the  charcoal  soldering  block.  But  if 
the  spring  is  broken  near  the  hole  where  it  is  at¬ 
tached  to  the  stud,  remove  the  eye  frame  and  nose 
guard  and  prepare  the  joint  as  already  described. 
It  would  be  the  safest  plan  for  the  repairer  to  pin 
the  work  onto  the  soldering  block,  but  the  quickest 
way  is  to  hold  the  larger  side  between  the  fingers  of 
the  left  hand  and  the  smaller  in  a  pair  of  tweezers, 
which  are  held  in  the  right  hand. 

The  instructions  for  repairing  spectacle  eye  wire 


34  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


apply  to  the  repairing  of  the  eye  frames  of  eye¬ 
glasses. 

There  is  no  good  way  to  repair  rubber  or  zylonite 
eyeglass  frames.  Sometimes  a  hole  is  drilled  on 
either  side  of  the  break  and  the  ends  drawn  together 
with  a  piece  of  binding  wire.  A  better  plan  is  to  put 
in  a  new  eye.  Springs  are  secured  to  rubber  or 
zylonite  eyeglass  frames  with  pins,  which  are 
riveted. 

If  a  gold  or  gold  filled  spring  is  broken  at  the 
screw  hole,  drill  a  hole  in  the  end  and  replace  it  in 
the  eyeglass  frame  and  reshape  it  to  suit  the  nose  of 
the  wearer. 

New  cork  is  easily  placed  in  eyeglass  guards  by 
removing  the  old  and  slightly  bending  back  the 
edge  of  the  guard  to  receive  the  new  piece  of  cork. 
Then  the  sides,  or  edges,  are  pressed  over  the  cork, 
which  is  finished  with  a  medium  fine  file.  There 
is  a  narrow  strip  of  metal  beneath  the  cork  of  nose 
guards,  in  the  end  of  which  is  a  hole  for  the  screw 
which  secures  the  guard  to  the  eye  wire.  Should 
this  break,  draw  it  out  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch, 
drill  a  hole  to  insert  the  small  screw  and  insert  as 
before. 

Shell  or  zylonite  for  guards  can  be  bought  in 
strips.  From  this  the  desired  piece  is  cut  and  fast¬ 
ened  to  the  nose  guards  with  rivets. 

The  repairer  occasionally  will  have  trouble  in  re¬ 
moving  screws  from  spectacle  and  eyeglass  frames. 
Should  the  screw  be  rusted  in  the  end  piece  or  hold 
from  any  other  cause,  lay  the  end  piece  on  a  small 
anvil  or  block  and  lightly  hammer  the  gold  between 
the  bead  and  end  of  the  screw.  This  will  spread  the 
gold  around  the  screw  and  it  can  then  be  turned  with 
ease  if  a  good,  strong  screwdriver  is  used,  which 
the  repairman  can  grasp  firmly  in  the  hand. 

If  lenses  are  loose,  either  in  eyeglass  or  spectacle 
frames,  file  away  a  very  little  of  the  gold  or  metal 


SPECTACLE  AND  EYEGLASS  REPAIRING.  35 


between  the  joint  or  sides  of  the  end  pieces,  so  thaf 
the  parts  can  be  screwed  closer  together.  This  fail 
ing,  move  the  joint  back  on  the  eye  wire.  The  care 
ful  workman  will  not  countenance  the  practice  of 
putting  sheet  lead  or  tinfoil  between  the  lens  and 
eye  wire  to  tighten  the  glass.  Great  care  shoulc 
be  exercised  in  filing  between  the  joints  or  end 
pieces,  either  to  tighten  the  lens  or  the  side  piece. 
In  the  latter  case  it  would  be  better  to  use  washers 
or  to  put  in  new  rivets.  Some  workmen  have  an 
idea  that  side  pieces  can  be  tightened  by  laying  the 
joint  on  an  anvil  and  hammering  the  rivet.  This  is 
a  mistake,  because  the  gold  is  stretched  more  than 
the  rivet  is  compressed  and,  consequently,  the  side 
piece  will  be  as  loose  as  before,  or,  if  tighter,  will 
work  itself  loose  in  a  very  short  time. 

But  if  one  wishes  to  tighten  the  side  piece  with¬ 
out  putting  in  washers  or  rivets,  lay  the  end 
on  an  anvil  and  strike  the  rivet  several  sharp  blows 
with  a  punch  of  the  same  diameter  as  that  of  the 
rivet.  This  will  compress  the  rivet  and  tighten  the 
side  piece  without  any  injury  to  the  gold  joint. 

If  lenses  are  too  large  for  the  spectacle  or  eye¬ 
glass  frame  and  a  grinding  stone  is  not  at  hand,  use 
a  slightly  coarse,  flat  file,  wetted  with  water,  for 
reducing  the  size.  In  filing  move  the  file  toward  the 
lens  at  an  angle  of  about  45  degrees. 

The  jeweler  is  often  called  upon  to  drill  a  hole  in 
an  eyeglass  lens  for  a  cord.  This  is  an  easy  mat¬ 
ter  if  one  has  a  lens  drilling  machine,  but  if  not  the 
case  is  dififerent.  Secure  a  large,  three-cornered  file 
and  grind  the  three  sides  smooth  and  to  a  point,  and 
sharpen  on  the  Arkansas  stone.  Moisten  the  lens 
with  the  lens  drilling  mixture — sewing  machine  oil 
will  answer  nicely — and  make  a  small  mark  on  the 
lens  where  the  hole  is  to  be.  Then  place  the  lens 
against  the  edge  of  the  bench  or  any  other  firm 
place,  insert  the  three  cornered  point,  which  is  given 


36 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


a  rotary  motion  back  and  forth.  After  drilling 
about  one-half  way  through,  turn  the  lens  and  pro¬ 
ceed  in  the  same  manner  from  the  opposite  side.  A 
three  cornered  drill  used  in  the  pump  drill  will  do 
this  work  nicely.  In  using  lay  the  lens  on  a  large, 
flat  piece  of  cork  and  use  the  drilling  fluid  freely. 
When  a  small  opening  is  made  moisten  a  fine  rat- 
tail  file  with  the  drilling  mixture  and  broach  out  the 
opening  to  the  size  desired. 


CLEANING  BIFOCAL  LENSES. 

There  are  many  forms  of  bifocal  lenses,  from  the 
“split”  glasses,  invented  by  Benjamin  Franklin  and, 
consequently,  so  named,  down  to  the  present  cement 
bifocal. 

The  dirt  which  accumulates  between  the  former 
form  of  bifocal  lenses  is  easily  removed  by  taking  the 
glasses  from  the  eye  frames  and  wiping  them  with 
tissue  paper.  The  cement  bifocal,  which  is  very 
popular  at  present,  is  very  neat,  but  it  has  several 
serious  drawbacks.  In  wiping  these  lenses  great 
care  must  be  taken  that  the  heat  and  friction  do  not 
cause  the  segments  to  become  loosened  from  the 
distance  glasses  or  the  space  between  will  be  ob¬ 
scured  by  vapor  bubbles.  Another  drawback  is  the 
fact  that  a  sudden  jar  is  liable  to  cause“Newton’s 
rings,”  a  beautiful  iridescent  phenomena,  which 
present  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  when  the  glass 
is  held  in  a  favorable  position. 

To  clean  these  lenses  it  is  necessary  to  remove  the 
dirty  or  spotted  cement  which  unites  the  two  parts 
of  the  lens  and  reunite  them  with  new  cement — Can¬ 
ada  balsam.  Many  prefer  to  use  the  cement  prepar¬ 
ed  by  optical  companies.  Canada  balsam,  however, 
is  the  nicest  form,  as  it  is  put  up  into  tubes  and  a 
drop  can  easily  be  pressed  out  whenever  wanted.  In 


CLEANING  BIFOCAL  LENSES. 


37 


cleaning  lenses  of  this  description  it  is  necessary 
to  take  the  lens  from  the  eye  frame  and  to  remove 
the  segment  from  the  larger  glass  by  slightly  heat¬ 
ing  the  latter  on  the  side  opposite  the  segment. 
Both  pieces  are  allowed  to  cool,  after  which  they 
are  cleaned  with  alcohol  and  wiped  perfectly  clean 
and  dry  with  a  soft  rag  or  tissue  paper. 

The  large  glass  is  then  held  in  a  pair  of  tweezers 
and  a  drop  of  the  cement  is  placed  on  it.  This  is 
heated  over  a  small  alcohol  flame — but  not  allowed 
to  ignite — until  a  vapor  is  given  off,  at  which  time 
the  segment  should  be  applied  to  its  proper  posi¬ 
tion  and  pressure  given  to  force  all  bubbles  from 
between  the  two  glasses.  If,  however,  spots  or  bub¬ 
bles  remain,  remove  the  segment  and,  after  clean¬ 
ing  both  glasses,  repeat  the  operation.  The  cement, 
after  heating,  becomes  hardened  in  a  very  short 
time  and  can  be  chipped  off  with  a  graver  or  scraper. 
The  residue  is  removed  by  the  use  of  alcohol  and  a 
medium  stiff  brush. 


JEWELRY  REPAIRING. 


There  is  nothing,  aside  from  personal  attributes, 
which  more  easily  makes  or  mars  a  jeweler’s  reputa¬ 
tion  or  affects  his  trade  than  the  character  of  his  re¬ 
pair  work.  It  is  not  more  difficult  to  do  a  job  nicely 
than  it  is  to  “botch”  it,  if  care  and  judgment  are  ex¬ 
ercised  in  the  work.  To  become  expert  at  jewelry 
repairing  the  workman  should  be  able  to  see  at  a 
glance  exactly  what  is  necessary  to  be  done  in  each 
job  and  then  do  that  in  the  best  and  quickest  man¬ 
ner  possible. 

Many  jobs  in  themselves  are  not  worth  the  repair¬ 
ing,  but  the  owners  prize  the  articles,  for  the  sake  of 
associations,  of  which  the  repairer  knows  nothing, 
and  for  this  reason,  as  well  as  for  his  reputation,  the 
jeweler  should  not  slight  the  meanest  job. 

Replacing  a  Pin  Tongue. — Replacing  a  broken  pin 
tongue  in  a  brooch  is  considered  an  easy  matter  and 
so  it  is  if  the  work  is  done  in  the  right  manner.  In 
many  cases  the  pin  tongue  is  broken  off  at  the  joint. 
The  first  thing,  then,  to  be  done  is  to  remove  the 
rivet  from  the  joint.  This  may  be  pushed  out  with 
the  tweezers  or  any  other  point,  and  if  it  does  not 
yield  to  this  treatment  use  the  rivet  pliers.  The 
rivet  removed,  select  a  pin  tongue  whose  joint  is 
about  the  same  size  as  that  of  the  joint  on  the 
brooch  and  cut  it  to  fit  into  the  joint.  Then  hold 
the  brooch  with  the  top  side  down  and  in  this  posi- 


TO  MAKE  A  PIN  STEM. 


39 

tion  the  catch  will  be  nearest  the  body  of  the  work¬ 
man.  Then,  with  the  right  hand  insert  a  round 
broach — the  round  ones  are  the  best,  as  they  stretch 
the  stock  instead  of  cutting  it — into  the  joint  ana 
through  the  pin  tongue  joint  until  the  end  appears 
on  the  left  side  of  the  joint.  Then  care  must  be 
taken  that  the  pin  tongue  will  move  up  and  down 
on  the  broach — which  serves  as  the  rivet — without 
causing  the  latter  to  move.  When  this  is  satisfac¬ 
tory,  remove  the  broach  and,  if  necessary,  cut  the 
pin  tongue  to  the  required  length  and  repoint  it. 
This  is  done  by  placing  the  tongue  in  a  small  pin 
vise  and  laying  it  in  a  groove  on  the  bench  pin  and 
giving  it  a  rotary  motion  between  the  thumb  and 
forefinger  of  the  left  hand,  while  a  fine  file  is 
passed  back  and  forth  over  it  with  the  right  hand. 
This  done,  the  rivet  is  filed  in  the  same  manner,  ex¬ 
cepting  that  the  taper  is  not  so  acute,  and  inserted 
from  the  right,  always ;  and  when  the  pin  tongue 
will  work  nicely — not  too  tightly  or  too  loosely — 
without  causing  the  rivet  wire  to  move,  cut  off  the 
ends  close  to  the  joint  with  a  pair  of  cutting  pliers 
or  a  saw  and  file  them  ofif  smoothly,  but  not  quite 
even  with  the  joint.  Then  finish  by  hammering 
it  lightly  on  each  end,  so  as  to  prevent  any  pos¬ 
sibility  of  its  working  out. 

To  remove  a  rivet  that  has  been  inserted  in  this 
way  hold  the  brooch  so  that  the  catch  will  be 
farthest  from  the  body  and  file  the  right  side  of  the 
rivet  and  then  force  it  with  the  pliers.  All  rivets  in 
new  work,  as  brooches,  lockets,  match  safes,  watch 
cases,  etc.,  are  inserted  from  the  right,  and  when  this 
is  fully  understood  the  repairer  will  not  have  much 
trouble  in  removing  rivets. 

To  Make  a  Pin  Stem. — Pin  stems  having  regular 
joints  are  made  as  follows:  Take  a  piece  of  hollow 
wire  and  file  small  grooves  crosswise  on  the  seam. 


40  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


and  lay  this  on  a  thin,  narrow  piece  of  stock  and, 
after  binding  the  two  securel)  together  with  the 
binding  wire,  coat  the  line  of  contact  with  borax 
paste  and  on  this  lay  small  pieces  of  solder.  Then, 
when  the  borax  has  dried,  apply  the  flame  until  the 
solder  flows  and  unites  the  two  pieces.  The  binding 
wire  is  then  removed  and  the  stock  “boiled  out”  in 
the  sulphuric  acid  pickle.  Then  cut  the  flat  stock 
off  to  within  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  of  the  hollow 
wire  and  the  stock  is  placed  on  a  flat  piece  of  char¬ 
coal,  with  the  hollow  wire  beneath.  The  pins, 
which  have  been  pointed,  are  arranged  with  the  butt 
ends  on  the  plate  and  with  sufficient  distance  be¬ 
tween  to  allow  for  cutting,  etc.,  and  fastened  there 
by  sprigs  made  of  binding  wire  or  by  mixing  plaster 
of  paris  and  water  and  pouring  the  mixture  onto  the 
ends  of  the  pins.  This,  when  dry,  will  hold  the 
tongues  in  position,  while  the  butt  or  thicker  ends 
are  being  soldered  to  the  joint  stock  After  all  sol¬ 
dering  is  done  remove  the  sprigs  or  plaster  of  paris 
and  clean  the  work  in  the  sulphuric  acii  pickle.  The 
pins  may  then  be  separated  as  they  ai  wanted. 

Pin  stems  for  ball  joints  are  made  b  drawing  the 
wire  to  the  thickness  of  the  pin  desired  and  cutting 
it  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  longer  than  necessary. 
The  end  is  then  melted  into  a  ball,  which,  when 
hammered,  will  spread  sufficiently  to  allow  the  drill¬ 
ing  of  a  hole  through  it  and,  at  the  same  time,  serve 
as  a  spring. 

To  Straighten  Pins. — Very  often  it  is  necessary 
to  make  pin  tongues  and  scarf  pins  in  bulk,  and  it 
is  necessary  to  have  the  wire  perfectly  straight. 
This  may  be  accomplished  bv  annealing  the  wire 
after  it  is  drawn  to  nearly  the  required  thickness 
and  fastening  one  end  in  a  vise,  while  the  other  is 
secured  in  a  drawing  tongs  and  the  wire  stretched 
as  much  as  possible  without  breaking  it.  When  re- 


BROKEN  SCARF  PINS. 


41 


heved  of  the  strain  the  wire  will  be  found  to  be  per¬ 
fectly  straight. 

Repairing  Broken  Scarf  Pins. — Broken  scarf  pins 
are  repaired  by  beveling  each  end  of  the  break  so 
that  when  joined  the  ends  will  overlap'but  not  be  any 
thicker  than  the  other  parts  of  the  pin.  To  solder 
breaks  of  this  kind — which  usually  occur  about  the 
middle  of  the  pin — the  set  should  be  wrapped  in  wet 
tissue  paper  before  the  parts  are  fastened  on  the 
charcoal  soldering  block  or  held  in  the  fingers  to  be 
soldered.  To  solder  the  pin  in  the  fingers,  grasp  the 
ball  of  moistened  tissue  paper  which  envelops  the 
set,  between  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the  left 
hand,  and  with  a  pair  of  tweezers  in  the  right  hand 
place  and  hold  the  other  end  of  the  pin  in  position. 
When  scarf  pins  are  broken  ofif  at  the  setting  it  is 
advisable  to  remove  most  of  the  stones  before  sol¬ 
dering  is  attempted.  Doublets,  sometimes,  will 
stand  the  heating  and  at  other  times  they  will  not. 

Pearls,  genuine  turquoise,  amethysts,  the  topaz, 
opals,  etc.,  must  be  taken  out  or  they  will  be  ruined. 
Small  doublets  and  diamonds  will,  in  most  cases, 
stand  the  heat  necessary  for  soldering,  but  it  is  ad¬ 
visable  for  the  repairer  to  take  as  little  risk  as  pos¬ 
sible,  and  especially  so  with  diamonds.  After  the 
stone  is  removed  from  the  setting,  the  parts  to  be 
soldered  are  cleaned  with  a  file  or  scraper. 

The  setting,  with  the  filed  part  upward,  is  then 
fastened  on  a  piece  of  charcoal  and  the  filed  end  of 
the  pin  placed  in  its  proper  position.  To  do  this, 
insert  the  point  of  the  pin  into  a  small  piece  of  char¬ 
coal  and  lay  both  on  the  large  soldering  block,  so 
that  the  two  parts  to  be  joined  will  be  in  their  re¬ 
spective  positions.  Then  apply  the  borax  paste, 
solder  and  proceed  as  before. 

Enameled  pins,  whether  school,  scarf  or  brooch 
pins,  are  difficult  to  repair  without  melting  or  chip- 


42 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


ping  the  enamel.  The  safest  plan  is  to  explain  to 
the  customer  the  risk  that  is  taken  and  what  the  con¬ 
sequences  might  be.  Then  proceed  to  prepare  the 
joint  in  the  usual  manner. 

A  piece  of  mica — which  may  be  obtained  at  any 
drug  or  stove  store — is  laid  on  the  charcoal  sol¬ 
dering  block  and  on  this  is  laid  the  piece  to  be 
heated.  In  this  way  the  enamel,  while  heated,  will 
not  become  black  or  dirty  from  the  soldering  block. 
After  the  article  is  soldered,  allow  it  to  cool  before 
attempting  to  remove  it  from  the  mica ;  otherwise 
the  enamel  will  chip  out.  This  is  not  a  very  good 
method  for  curved  enamel  surfaces,  but  it  is  the  best 
known  at  present.  Heated  enamel  or  stones  should 
not  be  immersed  in  pickle  or  water  until  cold,  lest 
they  crack. 

Twists  in  Pintongs.— Pintongs  having  twists  in 
the  middle  are  made  by  drawing  the  wire  to  the  de¬ 
sired  thickness  and  hammering  it  slightly  flat  in  its 
middle  portion,  after  which  it  is  annealed,  and  then 
by  holding  the  ends  of  the  flat  surface  in  hand  vises 
or  pliers,  twisting  the  wire  four  or  five  times.  An¬ 
neal  again  and  draw  the  pin,  twist  and  all,  through 
the  hole  in  which  the  wire  was  last  drawn.  This 
will  smooth  the  twist  and  the  pin  is  ready  to  be 
made  up. 

Repairing  Set  Rings. — Set  rings  broken  at  the 
joint  are  the  easiest  to  repair,  as  all  that  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  be  done  is  to  file  the  broken  ends  even  and 
to  join  them  so  that  they  meet  nicely,  without  any 
pressure  and  with  the  same  curvature  of  the  ring. 
A  joint  of  this  kind  will  solder  nicely,  but  where  the 
ends  meet  with  pressure,  they  will,  when  heated, 
spring  into  a  V-shape  and  cause  considerable  trou¬ 
ble.  Having  joined  the  broken  ends,  take  a  piece  of 
tissue  paper  and  fold  it  until  it  is  about  one-half  an 


RINGS  BROKEN  AT  THE  SET. 


43 


inch  wide  and  from  three  to  six  inches  long-,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  size  of  the  set  to  be  protected.  This  is 
saturated  with  water  and  wrapped  around  the  set, 
after  which  the  joint  is  coated  with  borax  paste  and 
a  small  piece  of  solder  applied.  To  solder  the  joint, 
thus  prepared,  hold  the  set  between  the  thumb  and 
forefinger  of  the  left  hand  and  blow  a  strong  flame 
onto  the  joint,  and  somewhat  on  either  side  of  it. 
until  the  solder  flows.  As  soon  as  this  is  done,  dip 
the  soldered  part  into  pickle  and  rinse  it  in  clean 
water.  The  tissue  paper  is  then  removed  and  the 
surplus  solder  filed  from  the  inside  of  the  ring  with 
a  fine  half-round  file.  Then  the  ring  is  placed  on  a 
mandril  and  “rounded  up.”  This  done,  its  sides  and 
surface  are  filed  even  and  smooth  with  a  fine  file, 
and  the  stones  securely  fastened  so  that  they  will 
not  be  lost  while  the  ring  is  being  polished  or  worn. 

To  Repair  Rings  Broken  at  the  Set. — Before  any¬ 
thing  is  done  on  a  job  of  this  kind  the  stones  should 
be  removed  from  the  setting.  This  is  done  by  plac¬ 
ing  a  knife  blade  between  the  prong  and  stone  and 
gently  pressing  upward.  This  will  loosen  the  stone, 
which  can  then  easily  be  pushed  out.  Pearls,  tur¬ 
quoise,  etc.,  are  removed  by  cutting  away  one  or 
more  beads  by  which  they  are  held  in  position  and 
then  lifting  out  by  pressing  a  wax  point  down  on 
them  and  quickly  jerking  it  upward.  The  foil- 
backs  of  a  marquise  ring  quite  often  can  be  forced 
out  by  pushing  them  from  the  back  with  a  blunt 
pin  or  pusher.  Cameos,  intaglios  and  all  stones  hav¬ 
ing  beveled  edges,  over  which  the  gold  is  burnished, 
are  removed  from  the  settings  by  cementing  the  top 
of  the  stone  on  a  cement  stick.  When  the  cement 
has  hardened  the  ring  can  be  pried  from  the  stone, 
which  will  remain  imbedded  in  the  cement.  If, 
however,  any  difficulty  is  encountered  in  this 
method,  strike  the  extreme  outer  edge  of  the  setting 


44  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


with  a  hammer  before  fastening  the  stone  on  the  ce¬ 
ment  stick.  By  removing  these  stones  in  this  man¬ 
ner  the  edge  of  the  setting  will  be  preserved  intact 
and  the  stone  can  easily  be  sprung  back  into  its 
former  position  and  the  gold  burnished  over  it. 

When  the  stones  are  removed  anti-oxidize  the  set¬ 
ting  and  prepare  the  joints  in  the  usual  manner. 
Then  apply  the  borax  paste,  a  small  piece  or  more 
of  solder  and  lay  the  ring  on  a  piece  of  charcoal  and 
heat  it  gently — care,  however,  being  taken  with  set¬ 
tings  having  prongs,  so  that  the  ends  are  not  melted 
— until  the  solder  flows.  Then  the  ring  is  cleaned 
in  pickle,  the  surplus  solder  removed  and  the  ring 
rounded  up  and  smoothed  in  all  its  parts.  Set  rings 
may  have  the  inside  of  the  setting  polished  or  gilded, 
as  the  workman  may  elect.  The  latter  method  us¬ 
ually  is  the  one  adopted  where  there  are  several  set¬ 
tings  in  a  cluster. 

Tiffany,  belcher  and  rings  of  this  description,  no 
matter  how  many  settings  there  may  be,  always 
have  the  inside  of  the  setting  polished.  The  gild¬ 
ing  of  the  settings  is  done  to  give  a  nice  finish  to  the 
interior,  nothing  more.  The  prongs  and  outside  of 
the  settings  are  polished  in  the  usual  manner.  Then 
after  the  settings  are  washed  and  dried  the  stones 
are  replaced  in  their  proper  positions  and  the  ring 
is  ready  for  the  final  polishing.  This  method  of  re¬ 
pairing  set  rings,  no  matter  where  broken,  is  diffi¬ 
cult  for  men  who  do  not  have  much  of  it  to  do,  but 
without  a  doubt  it  is  the  only  proper  way  of  mend¬ 
ing  rings  of  this  kind.  We  have  seen  rings,  one 
particularly  with  an  opal  center  and  half  pearls  sur¬ 
rounding  it,  which  was  broken  at  the  set,  and  the 
workman  had  taken  a  thin  piece  of  gold  and  soft- 
soldered  it  inside  the  ring  so  as  to  join  the  two  ends. 
Then  he  had  drilled  four  holes,  two  on  each  side  of 
the  break,  which  he  tapped  and  in  these  he  inserted 
screws — a  very  ingenious  method  of  doing  the  work, 


NEW  PRONGS  ON  SETTINGS. 


45 


and,  from  the  way  it  was  done,  we  think  the  man 
was  capable  of  better  things. 

New  Prongs  on  Settings. — Occasionally  it  is 
necessary  to  replace  one  or  more  prongs  on  a  ring 
setting.  Sometimes  the  prong  can  be  stretched  by 
laying  it  on  the  anvil  point  or  by  means  of  a  pair 
of  pliers.  In  either  case  it  would  be  well  to  anneal 
the  prong  to  prevent  it  from  breaking.  If  it  can¬ 
not  be  repaired  in  this  way,  remove  the  destructible 
sets  and  take  a  thin  piece  of  gold  of  about  the  same 
width  as  the  prong  and  bend  it  double,  allowing  the 
bent  portions  to  touch.  This  done,  bevel  one  end, 
also  the  inside  of  the  prong.  Then,  after  anti-oxi¬ 
dizing  the  setting,  slip  the  double  piece  of  gold  over 
the  prong  and,  after  boraxing  the  joint,  lay  a  piece 
of  solder  on  the  inside  and  blow  an  easy,  steady 
llame  on  the  setting  until  the  solder  flows.  After 
the  solder  has  united  the  two  parts  the  ring  may  be 
cleaned  in  the  pickle  and  the  unattached  piece  of 
gold  can  be  removed,  as  it  has  served  its  purpose. 
It  may  be  well  to  state  that  the  double  piece  of  gold 
should  not  clasp  the  prong  too  tightly  as  in  this 
case  it  would  spring  off  when  heated.  Another 
method  of  doing  this  is  to  prepare  the  prong  as  in 
the  former  method  and  afterward  anti-oxidize  the 
setting.  The  end  of  the  prong  is  boraxed  and  a 
piece  of  solder  laid  upon  it.  Then  a  small 
piece  of  gold  of  the  width  and  thickness  of  the  prong 
is  taken  and  one  end  is  beveled  to  correspond  to  the 
end  of  the  prong.  To  join  the  two  prepared  ends 
hold  the  ring  in  the  left  hand  and  the  small  piece  of 
gold  between  a  pair  of  tweezers  in  the  right  hand. 
Blow  an  easy,  steady  flame  onto  the  solder,  and, 
when  about  to  melt,  join  the  two  ends  and  heat  so 
that  the  solder  will  unite  both  firmly  together. 
Afterward  the  new  part  can  be  cut  and  filed  to  cor¬ 
respond  to  the  other  prongs  in  the  setting.  This 


4(5  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 

method  is  very  well  for  cluster  rings,  but  for  Tif¬ 
fany  mountings  it  makes  a  nicer  job  to  put  on  an 
entirely  new  crown  or  setting.  Secure  a  setting 
which  will  take  the  stone  nicely — the  girdle  of  the 
stone,  when  laid  on  the  top  of  the  setting,  should 
cover  about  one-half  of  the  top  of  each  prong — cut 
out  the  old  setting  and  fit  in  the  new  one.  Consid¬ 
erable  care  must  be  exercised  so  as  get  the  new  set¬ 
ting  perfectly  straight.  Another  way  to  re-crown 
a  Tiffany  ring  is  to  cut  ofif  the  top  horizontally  and 
solder  the  setting  on  the  top.  This  way  is  the  easier, 
but  the  former  is  the  better.  After  the  setting  is 
soldered  in  position,  file  the  ring  so  that  it  is  uni¬ 
form  on  all  sides,  after  which  the  scallops  can  be 
cut  to  the  required  depth.  After  polishing,  inside 
and  outside,  the  stone  is  ready  to  be  reset.  The 
subjects  of  polishing  and  setting  will  be  considered 
later. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  want  to  take  the 
risk  on  Tiffany,  or  for  that  matter,  on  any  other 
mountings,  we  will  describe  how  some  workmen 
replace  one  or  more  broken  prongs.  Suppose  two 
prongs  are  worn  ofif  the  setting  which  holds  a  dia¬ 
mond  of  a  karat  weight.  These  workmen  will 
make  a  saw-cut  from  the  girdle  of  the  stone  down¬ 
ward  along  its  lower  side.  Then  they  will  cut  a 
piece  of  gold  V-shaped  to  fit  over  the  girdle  of  the 
stone,  the  same  as  a  prong  would  do,  and  fashion 
the  lower  part  to  be  pushed  down  into  the  saw-cut 
until  the  top  part  rests  snugly  on  the  top  slope  of 
the  stone.  The  setting  was  previously  anti-oxi¬ 
dized  and  now  the  joint  is  boraxed  and  a  small  pal- 
lion  of  solder  applied.  Then  an  easy  flame  is  di¬ 
rected  upon  the  joint  until  the  solder  flows,  which 
unites  the  two  parts.  But  simple  as  this  may  ap¬ 
pear  the  risk  is  very  great,  for  the  least  draught  of 
air  might  crack  the  stone  and  the  loss  would  be 
many  times  the  value  of  the  time  it  would  have 


REPAIRING  BROKEN  BAND  RINGS. 


47 


taken  to  remove  the  stone  and  to  have  done  the  job 
in  the  regular  manner. 

Repairing  Broken  Band  Rings. — Band  rings  hav¬ 
ing  one  break  are  easily  repaired  by  scraping  the 
joint  clean  and  then  joining  the  two  ends  without 
any  pressure,  with  the  same  curvature  as  that  of 
the  ring.  When  this  is  done,  anti-oxidize  the  en¬ 
tire  ring  and  paint  the  joint  with  the  borax  paste. 
Lay  a  piece  of  solder  on  the  inside  of  the  ring. 
1  hen  the  ring  is  laid  on  the  charcoal  soldering- 
block  and  the  ring  soldered  as  previously  described. 
But  where  two  or  more  breaks  are  to  be  repaired  in 
one  ring,  we  must  proceed  in  a  different  manner. 
Scrape  the  joints  clean  and  see  that  all  have  the 
same  degree  of  curvature.  Then  place  the  largest 
piece  on  the  ring  stick  and  fit  the  next  largest  piece 
where  it  naturally  belongs.  By  placing  the  small 
end  of  the  ring  stick  against  the  bench  and  the  butt 
end  against  the  body,  both  hands  can  be  used  to 
place  the  third  piece  in  position  and  to  bind  the 
three  together  with  a  double  piece  of  binding  wire. 
The  ends  of  the  wire  should  be  brought  together 
and  twisted,  but  not  too  tightly, otherwise  the  pieces 
would  spring  out  of  place.  A  little  practice  will 
enable  anyone  to  do  this  work  without  much  trou¬ 
ble.  After  the  pieces  are  securely  bound  in  posi¬ 
tion  by  the  binding  wire,  anti-oxidize  the  whole  and 
paint  the  joints  with  borax  paste,  and  lay  a  piece  of 
solder,  inside  the  ring,  on  each  break.  Then  blow 
an  easy,  steady  flame  on  all  parts  of  the  ring  until 
the  solder  flows  and  firmly  unites  all  parts.  After 
“boiling  out”  the  ring  in  the  pickle,  remove  the  sol¬ 
der  from  the  inside  of  the  ring  with  a  fine  half- 
round  file  and  round  it  up.  This  done,  file  the 
sides  smooth  and  even  and  replace  the  ring  on  the 
mandril  and  matt  the  joints  with  a  fine  matting  tool. 
Solder,  which  has  flowed  onto  the  outside,  may  be 
finished  in  the  same  way. 


48  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


Sizing  Rings. — To  make  a  ring  smaller  it  is  nec¬ 
essary  to  note  what  the  size  of  the  ring  is  and  what 
it  is  to  be.  For  instance,  we  have  a  Tiffany  ring, 
size  eight,  which  is  to  be  made  size  five.  We  take 
the  pair  of  dividers  and  measure  three  sizes  on  the 
scale  near  the  end  of  Allen’s  ring  stick.  The  length 
of  the  three  sizes  we  will  mark  on  the  bottom  of  the 
ring  with  each  point  of  the  dividers.  Then  this 
piece  may  be  cut  out  with  either  a  pair  of  cutting 
pliers  or  with  the  saw.  The  joint  is  then  prepared 
and  the  soldering  proceeded  with  as  has  been  de¬ 
scribed  for  set  rings ;  but  in  sizing  a  ring  of  this 
kind,  the  amount  of  gold  taken  out  and  the  conse¬ 
quent  bending  have  caused  the  setting  to  stretch 
and  the  stone  to  become  loosened.  This  should  be 
tightened  by  pressing  the  prongs  tightly  upon  the 
stone  with  the  pusher.  In  making  rings  larger, 
take  the  measure  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  case 
just  described.  But  to  put  in  the  extra  piece  of 
gold  is  a  rather  difficult  job.  In  enlarging  band 
rings  the  new  piece  can  be  curved  and  placed  in 
position  on  the  ring  stick,  where  it  is  secured  by 
passing  doubled  binding  wire  around  the  entire  ring. 
We  can  hardly  remember  an  easy  way  of  putting 
pieces  in  other  rings ;  however,  the  rings  can  be 
“pinned  up”  on  charcoal  after  the  sets  have  been 
duly  protected.  In  repair  shops  the  workman  will 
open  the  ring  where  it  has  been  cut  and  leave  the 
one  end  higher  than  the  other.  These  are  then 
filed  so  as  to  make  a  good  joint.  A  piece  of  gold  is 
then  taken  which  is  about  the  same  width  and  thick¬ 
ness  as  the  shank  of  the  ring,  and  given  the  curva¬ 
ture  of  the  ring.  Then,  after  wrapping  moist  tis¬ 
sue  paper  around  the  stones,  the  workman  takes  the 
set  between  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the  left 
hand  and  paints  the  joint  with  the  borax  paste  and 
applies  a  small  piece  of  solder.  Then  he  places  his 
blow-pipe  between  his  teeth,  takes  the  new  piece 


NEW  SHANKS  ON  RINGS. 


49 


of  gold  between  his  tweezers,  clips  the  filed  end  into 
the  borax  paste,  joins  the  two  and  blows  a  strong, 
steady  flame  onto  the  joint  and  somewhat  on  either 
side  of  it  until  the  solder  flows  and  unites  the  two 
pieces.  Then  on  the  new  piece  he  marks  off  the 
number  of  sizes  to  be  added,  cuts  off  the  surplus 
gold  and  prepares  the  end  as  before  described.  This 
done,  he  joins  the  edges  and  proceeds  in  the  method 
described  for  repairing  a  set  ring  broken  at  the  joint. 
When  the  last  joint  is  soldered  the  ring  is  allowed 
to  cool  before  it  is  cleaned  in  the  sulphuric  acid 
pickle.  Then  the  inside  is  filed  smooth  with  the 
half-round  file  and  the  ring  rounded  up.  If  the  ring 
does  not  reach  the  desired  size  after  it  is  rounded  up, 
hammer  the  ring  shank  evenly  until  the  size  is  ob¬ 
tained.  Then  finish  the  new  piece  to  conform  to 
the  other  parts  of  the  shank.  Where  rings  are  to 
be  made  from  one-cpiarter  to  three-quarters  of  a 
size  larger,  it  is  often  desirable  to  stretch  them  by 
means  of  hammering,  while  on  the  mandril.  This 
is  preferable  to  having  two  joints  very  close  to¬ 
gether. 

New  Shanks  on  Rings. — Very  often  it  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  put  an  entire  new  shank  on  a  ring  to  make 
it  serviceable.  To  do  this  nicely  secure  a  piece  of 
gold,  the  width  and  thickness  of  the  shank,  on  a 
new  ring  of  a  similar  pattern.  The  thickness  gen¬ 
erally  is  150  on  a  screw-gauge,  which  is  equivalent 
to  2-3  millimeter.  When  this  is  obtained,  cut  off 
the  old  shank  where  the  new  piece  is  to  be  joined 
and  prepare  the  joints  as  previously  described.  Then 
bend  the  new  piece  to  conform  to  the  curvature  of 
the  ring  and  cut  it  the  required  size.  Place  the 
shank  and  setting  on  the  ring  stick  and  tie  the  two 
together  with  binding  wire.  Before  soldering,  in  a 
set  ring,  the  setting  should  be  anti-oxidized  to  pro¬ 
tect  the  color  of  the  gold.  When  the  parts  are  sol- 


50  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


clered,  clean  the  ring  in  pickle  and  finish  it  in  the 
manner  described  for  sizing  rings. 

New  Gallery  Settings.— If  the  setting  for  a  large 
cushion  stone  is  badly  worn,  it  is  advisable  to  re¬ 
place  it  with  an  entirely  new  setting  in  preference 
to  restoring  the  old  claws.  This  is  easily  done  by 
securing  gallery  stock,  which  may  easily  be  bent 
to  the  desired  shape  and  size.  This  gallery  is  illus¬ 
trated  in  most  material  catalogues  and  the  repairer 
can  easily  determine  the  size  and  amount  required. 
It  is  usually  bought  by  the  foot.  After  the  setting 
is  bent  to  the  required  size  and  shape,  the  ends  are 
joined  and,  after  cleaning,  it  is  ready  to  be  soldered 
in  position.  This  is  done  by  the  same  method,  pre¬ 
viously  described,  for  holding  the  ring  shanks  to  be 
soldered. 

Lining  Band  Rings. — Band  rings,  which  are  worn 
very  thin  and  are  considerably  cracked  and  broken, 
may  be  made  serviceable  and  strong  by  lining  them. 
Take  a  strip  of  gold  somewhat  wider  than  the  ring, 
and  make  the  inside  ring  the  same  size  as  the  one 
to  be  repaired.  Then  place  the  broken  band  over 
the  newly  made  ring  and  measure  the  size  of  the 
piece  necessary  to  be  placed  in  the  upper  ring  to 
fill  the  gap  between  the  two  edges.  When  this  is 
done,  secure  all  together  by  means  of  binding  wire 
and  anti-oxidize  the  engraved  surface.  Then  lay 
small  pieces  of  solder  around  the  edges,  one  side  at 
a  time,  and  when  the  borax  has  sufficiently  dried  to 
prevent  it  from  throwing  off  the  solder,  blow  an 
easy  flame  onto  the  interstice.  When  one  side  is 
soldered,  remove  the  binding  wire  and  clean  the 
ring  by  boiling  it  in  the  sulphuric  acid  pickle,  and 
wash  in  water.  Then  re-tie  the  ring  and,  after  anti¬ 
oxidizing  the  engraved  surface,  proceed  as  before. 
When  all  soldering  is  done,  remove  the  binding 


REPAIRING  INITIAL  RINGS. 


51 


wire,  clean  the  ring  and  round  it  up.  The  sides  are 
then  filed  to  the  edges  of  the  band  ring  and, 
finally,  the  top  surface  is  finished  with  a  fine  file  or 
an  emery  stick. 

Repairing  Initial  Rings. — Initial  rings  are  nearly 
always  broken  at  the  box  or  setting,  or  at  the  bot¬ 
tom.  Those  broken  at  the  bottom  are  easy  to  re¬ 
pair,  but  those  cracked  at  the  set  require  more  time 
and  patience.  Carefully  remove  the  rivets, or  screws 
holding  the  initial,  after  which  the  stone,  generally 
onyx,  is  easily  raised.  Initials  fastened  in  position 
with  a  screw  at  the  bottom  cause  much  trouble  if 
the  screw-head  becomes  rusted.  Should  this  be  the 
case,  grasp  the  initial  firmly  with  a  pair  of  pointed 
pliers  and  unscrew  in  that  manner.  This  will  not 
injure  in  the  least  the  initial  or  screw,  but  usually  a 
new  screw  should  be  inserted.  Then  clean  the  parts 
to  be  united  and  join,  but  avoid  any  pressure  as  the 
joint  would  spring  into  the  Y-shape  when  heated. 
If  the  shank  is  sawed  or  cut  so  that  several  ends 
touch  the  setting,  see  that  all  are  joined  nicely,  then 
borax  and  solder  all  at  the  same  time.  It  is  not  nec¬ 
essary  to  tie  binding  wire  around  a  job  of  this  kind 
unless  the  shank  is  broken  off  the  box  on  both  sides. 
If  so,  place  the  shank  on  the  ring  stick  and  insert 
the  setting  and  secure  with  the  iron  wire.  Care, 
however,  must  be  exercised  that  too  great  pressure 
be  not  given,  lest  the  ends  slip  up  on  the  setting 
about  the  time  that  the  solder  flows. 

Frequently  the  underside  of  the  box  is  cracked 
or  dented.  'This  is  a  difficult  place  to  repair  nicely, 
as  the  edge  of  the  gold  is  liable  to  melt  when  heated. 
There  have  come  to  our  notice  many  rings  of  this 
kind  which  have  been  repaired  with  silver  solder 
and,  consequently,  show  a  white  line.  The  best  way 
to  repair  these  rings  is  to  solder  a  thin,  narrow  strip 
of  gold  over  the  break.  In  this  way  the  gold  will 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


cover  the  crack  and  fill  it  as  the  solder  flows  to  the 
piece  of  gold.  If  the  solder  were  laid  over  the 
crack,  when  melted,  it  would  flow  to  either  side  and 
a  piece  of  gold  would  have  to  be  placed  over  the 
crack  to  draw  it  back.  After  the  solder  flows  and 
the  gap  is  not  closed  entirely  on  the  inside,  place 
several  pieces  of  solder  where  needed  and  melt. 
Then,  after  cleaning  the  ring  in  the  sulphuric  acid 
pickle,  remove  the  surplus  gold  and  solder  and.  if 
necessary,  round  up  the  ring.  When  filing  do  not 
use  the  point  of  the  file  to  remove  marks  or  solder, 
as  this  does  not  better  the  work  in  the  least.  File 
with  the  full  surface  of  the  file  and  the  polishing  pro¬ 
cess  will  be  considerably  easier  and,  at  the  same 
time,  will  leave  the  repaired  article  in  a  better  state. 

Braid  or  Hair  Chains  to  Repair. — The  attach¬ 
ments  of  braid  or  hair  chains  are  made  in  two  parts 
and,  in  most  cases,  are  soft  soldered  together. 
When  broken,  the  surface  should  be  scraped  or  filed 
clean  and  moistened  with  soft-soldering  fluid.  The 
parts  are,  while  being  soldered,  held  in  the  split 
tweezers  over  an  alcohol  flame.  If  the  braid  or 
hair  is  badly  worn  and  it  is  desired  to  put  in  new 
silk,  tie  a  piece  of  binding  wire  around  each  attach¬ 
ment  before  heating  it,  preventing  thereby  its  be¬ 
coming  unsoldered.  All  attachments  should  be 
cleaned  and  polished  before  the  braid  is  inserted. 

To  Repair  Cuff  Buttons. — Lever  back  cuff  but¬ 
tons  are  the  most  difficult  to  repair,  because,  us¬ 
ually,  the  break  is  in  the  under  part  containing  the 
spring,  which  must  be  removed.  But,  if  the  but¬ 
ton  is  broken  anywhere  else,  the  spring  must  be  re¬ 
moved  before  any  hard  soldering  can  be  done.  This 
is  accomplished  by  cementing  the  back  on  a  cement 
stick  and  taking  up  the  edge  with  a  knife  or  graver. 
When  the  button  is  repaired,  the  back  should  be 


REPAIRING  BRACELETS. 


53 


held  on  the  cement  stick  while  replacing  the  spring. 
The  edge  can  be  bent  over  with  the  pusher  or  ham¬ 
mered  over  with  a  square  punch.  There  are  some 
buttons  on  the  market  the  backs  of  which  work  on 
a  rivet,  and  these  will  not  give  the  repairer  any 
trouble.  Link  and  one-piece  buttons  are  not  diffi¬ 
cult  to  repair,  but  it  is  advisable  to  leave  as  much 
solder  as  possible  on  the  joints  to  insure  strength. 

To  Repair  Buckles. — Cut  steel  buckles  have  the 
attachments  fastened  with  soft  solder,  and  when 
these  become  loosened  the  break  should  be  scraped 
and  moistened  with  the  soldering  fluid.  Then  the 
parts  are  easily  soldered  by  holding  them  together 
with  the  split  tweezers  over  an  alcohol  flame. 
Buckles  of  this  kind  are  cleaned  by  brushing  thor¬ 
oughly  with  a  brush  with  a  plentiful  use  of  tripoli 
or  Vienna  lime.  Putz-pomade  can  also  be  used  to 
advantage.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  describe  the 
method  of  repairing  any  of  the  other  cheap  buckles, 
excepting  that  all  marks  of  soft  soldering  should 
be  covered,  either  by  gilding  or  gold  paint. 

Bracelets  to  Repair. — Spring  bracelets,  broken  in 
the  middle,  are  repaired  by  heating  the  ends  until 
they  can  be  removed  and  the  broken  spring  with¬ 
drawn.  Then  the  new  spring  is  inserted  and  the 
ends  soldered  in  position.  Care,  however,  should 
be  used  that  the  soft  solder  does  not  bubble  and 
flow  out  upon  the  surface  of  the  beads  or  spiral. 
Snap  bracelets  are  not  considered  difficult  to  repair, 
but  we  would  advise  caution  in  the  use  of  soft 
solder.  Nethersole  and  all  hollow  bracelets  should 
have  an  air  hole  drilled  into  them  before  any  solder¬ 
ing,  which  is  liable  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the 
heated  air,  is  done.  When  the  bracelet  is  boiled  out, 
a  light  green  effervescence  will  be  seen  at  the  hole. 
This  is  the  sulphuric  acid  pickle.  To  remove  this 


54  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 

pickle,  boil  or  lay  the  article  into  a  strong  solution 
of  washing  soda. 

To  Make  a  Nethersole  Bracelet  Smaller. — If  a 
Nethersole  bracelet  measures  2)4  inches  in  diame¬ 
ter  and  it  should  be  2  inches  in  diameter,  multiply 
each  diameter  by  three,  or,  more  exactly,  by  3.1416. 
This  will  give  the  circumferences  of  the  bracelet  be¬ 
fore  and  after  cutting,  and  the  piece  to  be  taken  out 
will  be  the  difference  between  the  two  amounts. 
For  example,  we  have  a  bracelet  measuring  2)4 
inches  in  diameter  and  the  customer  wants  it  to 
measure  2  inches  in  diameter,  then  we  proceed  as 
follows : 

3.1416  3.1416  7.0686 

2J4  2  6.2832 

6.2832  6.2832  .7854  which  equals  78/100,  or 

•7854 

7.0686 

a  trifle  over  Y\  of  an  inch.  By  using  the  number  3, 
the  process  is  greatly  simplified,  thus: 

2)4  2  6j4 

3  3  6 

6j4  6  Yx  of  an  inch. 

Bonnet  Brushes  to  Repair. — Broken  bonnet 
brushes  are  hard  soldered  whenever  possible,  but, 
in  some  cases,  beauty  is  often  sacrificed  for  strength. 
When  the  top  is  broken  out,  take  a  piece  of  silver 
and  cut  it  to  cover  the  broken  part.  Then  perpen¬ 
dicularly  on  this,  solder  a  heavy  piece  of  brass 
tubing,  which  should  fit  nicely  into  the  handle  of 
the  brush.  Then  the  plate  may  either  be  soft  or 
hard  soldered  to  the  top  of  the  brush.  When  this 
is  done  the  tube  is  cemented  into  the  handle. 


REPAIRING  WATCH  CASE  BEZEL. 


oo 


Silver  Novelties  to  Repair. — Many  novelties,  and 
especially  those  bought  in  department  stores,  are 
not  worth  repairing,  but  it  will  not  do  to  refuse  this 
work  when  it  is  brought  in.  As  most  of  the  handles 
are  filled  with  cement  this  must  be  removed  before 
any  soldering  can  be  done.  If  the  article  is  a  tooth 
brush,  which  has  broken  off  right  at  the  mouth  of 
the  handle,  heat  the  handle  at  the  other  end  until 
the  heated  air  and  cement  force  out  the  broken  end. 
If  it  does  not  yield  in  this  way,  press  it  down  into 
the  handle.  After  all  cement  has  been  removed, 
clean  the  handle  in  sulphuric  acid  pickle,  then  wash 
and  dry.  Now  make  a  brass  or  German  silver  fer¬ 
rule  that  will  slip  inside  of  the  handle  on  either  end 
of  the  break  and  join  the  two  ends.  Then  coat  the 
joint  with  borax  and  lay  on  the  small  pieces  of  easy 
flowing  silver  solder.  When  the  borax  has  dried, 
heat  the  handle  unfit  the  soft  solder  flows  into  the 
joint.  If  the  broken  article  has  been  filled  with  soft 
solder  the  work  is  very  much  more  difficult.  Re¬ 
move  the  excess  of  soft  solder  by  holding  the  article 
over  the  alcohol  flame  until  the  solder  is  melted, 
when  it  can  easily  be  poured  out.  The  remaining 
solder  can  be  removed  by  allowing  the  article  to  lie 
in  the  soft  solder  destroyer.  It  is  advisable  in  some 
cases  to  soft  solder  articles  of  this  kind  when  the 
silver  is  of  an  inferior  quality  or  is  very  thin.  In 
either  method,  use  the  ferrule  in  the  inside  to 
strengthen  the  article. 

Watch  Case  Bezel  to  Repair. — Before  soldering 
the  bezel,  the  place  to  be  soldered  should  be  careful¬ 
ly  filed  to  make  a  good  joint.  Binding  wire  is  then 
wrapped  around  the  bezel  several  times ;  but  before 
drawing  it  tight  take  a  piece  of  wire  of  such  size 
that  it  will  fill  the  glass  groove  and  extend  a  little 
beyond  the  ends.  Bend  the  wire  to  correspond  to 
the  groove  and  lay  it  in,  after  which  the  binding 


56 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK 


wire  encircling  it  is  tightly  drawn.  Anti-oxidize 
the  bezel,  then  apply  the  borax  and  a  small  piece  of 
solder.  Next  gradually  heat  the  part  opposite  to 
the  break  and  slowly  pass  around  to  the  joint  with 
a  small  and  gentle  flame.  When  soldered,  remove 
the  wire  and  boil  the  article  in  pickle,  after  which 
the  solder,  if  any,  is  removed  from  the  groove  with 
a  graver  and  the  outside  filed  and  rubbed  smooth 
with  fine  emery  paper. 

Watch  Bows  to  Refill. — Watch  bows  worn  thin 
in  places  are  refilled  by  placing  a  small  piece  of 
gold  in  the  worn  spot  and  flushing  it  with  solder. 
Solder,  in  itself,  is  too  soft  to  stand  the  wear;  so  the 
gold  should  be  inserted  to  insure  wearing. 

Belcher  Rings  to  Repair. — Repairing  the  setting 
on  a  belcher  ring  is  rather  a  difficult  job,  for  there 
should  be  a  number  of  new  claws,  usually  eight, 
soldered  in  the  right  position.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  old  prongs  are  to  be  filed  off  suffi¬ 
ciently  to  give  the  new  ones  a  firm  hold  on  the  base ; 
otherwise  when  setting  the  stone  they  will  be  liable 
to  be  broken  off.  Some  repairers,  after  filing  off 
the  old  setting,  make  a  ring  of  gold  about  3-16  or 
in.  high  and  solder  this  in  position.  It  is  difficult 
to  make  this  ring,  for  the  gold  should  be  as  thick  as 
the  base  on  which  it  is  to  be  soldered.  When  made 
up  it  is  rounded  on  the  setting  mandril  described 
in  a  previous  chapter.  When  the  ring  is  made  it  is 
tied  in  position  and  charged  with  borax  and  solder. 
After  the  borax  has  dried  the  ring  is  heated  until 
the  solder  flows  and  joins  the  two  parts.  This  done, 
file  the  top  of  the  new  setting  flat  and  mark  out  the 
number  of  new  claws  to  be  made.  The  gold  be¬ 
tween  the  prongs  is  sawed  out  by  placing  the  saw 
through  the  center  of  the  setting  and  sawing  down¬ 
ward,  but  great  care  should  be  exercised  that  the 


REPAIRING  CHAINS. 


57 

bottom  is  nicely  rounded  and  the  claws  even  and 
straight.  This  is  all  a  matter  of  practice,  for,  after 
doing  this  work  several  times  it  becomes  compara¬ 
tively  easy.  When  all  sawing  is  done  the  sides  of 
the-prongs  and  the  rounded  parts  of  the  scallops 
should  be  smoothed  with  fine  needle  files.  This  will 
greatly  facilitate  the  polishing.  The  inside  of  a  new 
setting  of  this  kind  is  polished  by  rubbing  it  back 
and  forth  on  a  linen  or  cotton  string  or  strips  of 
chamois  skin  which  have  been  charged  with  tripoli 
and  oil,  or,  what  is  cleaner,  the  prepared  tripoli 
composition  which  can  be  secured  from  any  material 
dealer.  It  is  not  necessary  to  use  one  string  only, 
for  several  may  be  used  at  the  same  time.  When 
the  parts  have  been  thoroughly  smoothed  the  ring 
should  be  washed  to  remove  all  grease  and  grit, 
after  which  the  inside  is  polished  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner  as  before,  excepting  that  rouge  is  substituted 
for  the  tripoli.  In  factories  the  sides  and  top  fof 
prongs  are  polished  on  wood-laps  before  being 
brushed  with  rotary  brushes,  and  it  would  be  ad¬ 
visable  for  the  repairer  to  finish  his  work  in  this 
way  if  he  has  the  facilities  for  doing  so. 

Chains  to  Repair. — Silver  fox-tail  chains,  when 
broken  at  the  swivel,  are  often  attached  by  opening 
the  end  link  with  a  pin-tongue  and  inserting  a  jump 
ring.  When  broken  some  distance  from  the  swivel, 
lav  a  piece  of  solder  on  each  end  of  the  break  and 
melt.  Then  cut  off  as  much  of  the  ends  as  possible, 
leaving  just  sufficient  to  make  two  nice,  solid  sur¬ 
faces  which  are  joined  and  soldered  together.  This 
is  the  best  way  of  repairing  this  kind  of  chain,  as  it 
prevents  the  solder  from  flowing  any  distance, 
which  would  stiffen  the  chain.  This  chain  is  made 
like  new  by  drawing  it  through  an  alcohol  flame 
until  it  is  thoroughly  heated  and  then  allowed  to 
-ool ;  after  which  it  is  allowed  to  lie  in  the  sulphuric 


58  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


acid  pickle  until  it  becomes  perfectly  white.  Some 
prefer  the  white  finish,  but,  if  the  bright  is  desired,  it 
is  necessary  to  polish  the  chain  with  the  brass 
scratch  brush.  It  is  also  done  by  briskly  brushing 
the  chain  with  bi-carbonate  of  soda,  but  the  resu  t 
is  not  so  good.  Rope  chains,  made  with  unsoldered 
links,  are  repaired  by  opening  the  two  links  at  each 
end  and  hooking  together.  This  is  not  so  difficult 
with  the  larger  size  of  chains,  but  a  great  deal  more 
so  with  very  small  chains.  Care  should  be  taken 
that  the  break  is  repaired  on  the  proper  twist;  oth¬ 
erwise  the  repaired  place  will  be  noticeable.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  solder  links  in  an  unsoldered  chain, 
but  it  is  necessary  to  do  so  in  a  soldered  li  ik  chain. 
To  solder  chains  of  this  kind  use  very  small  pieces 
of  solder  and,  if  possible,  solder  the  ends  of  the 
links  together.  This  will  mend  the  break  and  leave 
the  chain  as  pliable  as  before.  Wherever  possible, 
save  the  color  of  these  chains  by  using  the  anti-ox¬ 
idizer ;  but  if  a  pickle  coating  is  visible  it  would  be 
well  to  gild  the  soldered  parts  before  any  polishing 
is  attempted. 

Charms  to  Repair. — Charms  and  lockets  may  be 
broken  in  so  many  different  places  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  enumerate  all  at  this  time.  Generally, 
however,  they  are  broken  at  the  joints  or  at  the  top 
ring.  If  the  joints  on  a  plated  charm  or  locket  are 
broken,  remove  all  parts  that  are  soft  soldered  in 
position.  Then  remove  all  soft  solder  re¬ 
maining  on  the  part  to  be  repaired.  If  the  joints 
are  split  out  or  broken  from  the  knuckle,  remove 
the  rivet  and  insert  a  round  steel  broach  and  try  to 
hammer  the  joint  back  into  its  former  shape  and  po¬ 
sition.  The  tapping  or  hammering  should  be  done 
lightly,  so  as  to  leave  as  few  marks  as  possible  on 
the  joints.  All  being  clean  and  the  joints  tied  in 
position,  proceed  to  anti-oxidize  the  whole  and 


REPAIRING  WATCH  CHAINS. 


■  59 

charge  with  borax  and  solder.  Then  solder  with 
an  easy  flame  and  as  soon  as  the  solder  flows  nice¬ 
ly,  withdraw  the  article  and  allow  it  to  cool,  after 
which  it  should  be  cleaned  in  the  sulphuric  acid 
pickle.  As  many  of  these  lockets  are  gilded  on  the 
inside,  it  would  be  well  to  clean  the  inside  and  coat 
the  outside  with  any  resist — coach  painters’  varnish 
will  do — and  then  dip  the  whole  into  the  warmed 
Roman  coloring  solution.  This  will  produce  a  nice 
finish  on  the  inside,  similar  to  that  on  the  other 
parts.  The  resist  should  be  removed  and  the  whole 
put  together,  after  which  it  is  polished  and  washed. 
If  rings  are  broken  ofif  or  worn  on  plated  charms, 
which  are  soft  soldered  together,  it  is  advisable  to 
remove  all  the  parts  and  clean  off  all  soft  solder 
before  any  soldering  is  done.  This  may  be  removed 
by  scraping,  which  is  by  far  the  quickest  method, 
or  by  the  use  of  the  soft  solder  destroyer.  If  the 
rings  on  solid  gold  lockets  or  charms,  or  plated 
ones  that  are  not  soft  soldered,  are  worn  they  can 
easily  be  filled  by  wrapping  the  charm  in  moist  tis¬ 
sue  paper  and  then  holding  it  between  the  fore¬ 
finger  and  thumb  of  the  left  hand.  But  when  the 
rings  are  broken  off  of  an  elk  tooth  or  similar  charm 
the  tooth  or  other  destructible  parts  must  be  re¬ 
moved.  Wherever  possible,  use  the  anti-oxidizer, 
as  it  will  save  both  labor  and  the  engraving  on  all 
articles.  When  repairing  anything  containing  ce¬ 
ment  or  shellac  be  sure  to  have  all  removed  before 
attempting  any  soldering,  as,  otherwise,  the  cement 
would  boil  out  and  prevent  the  solder  from  flowing. 

Watch  Chains  to  Repair. — When  any  repairing 
is  to  be  done  to  a  watch  chain,  the  repairer  should 
examine  all  rings  which  compose  the  toggles  to  see 
that  the  ends  are  perfectly  joined.  When  the 
swivel  ring  is  drawn  out  of  shape,  it  should  be  bent 
back  and  the  swivel  itself  put  into  first-class  order. 


60 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


If  the  catch  does  not  spring  back  with  sufficient 
strength  to  close  entirely,  remove  the  rivet  from  the 
swivel,  stretch  the  spiral  spring  a  trifle  and  replace 
it.  This,  if  carefully  done,  will  remedy  the  defect. 
Watch  chains,  as  ordinarily  broken  in  one  or  more 
links,  do  not  require  so  much  patience  as  skill  in 
their  repair,  but  where  chains  are  to  be  entirely  re¬ 
filled,  both  patience  and  skill  are  required.  Watch 
chains  which  are  worn  thin  are  refilled  by  placing 
small  pieces  of  gold  into  the  worn  spots  and  flush¬ 
ing  the  whole  with  the  best  solder  that  the  chain 
will  stand.  One  will  notice  that  a  chain  of  this 
kind  is  much  shorter  after  it  has  been  refilled  than 
it  was  before,  and  the  result  will  be  surprising  if 
one  takes  the  trouble  to  measure  the  chain  before 
and  after  refilling  it.  We  have  heard  of  customers 
asking  if  some  of  the  links  had  not  been  removed 
from  the  chain.  If  solder  only  were  used  for  re¬ 
filling  the  chain  links  it  would  be  entirely  too  soft 
and  would  wear  out  in  a  short  time.  To  obviate 
this  the  harder  alloy  is  substituted.  When  doing 
this  work  on  a  curb  chain,  take  a  flat  piece  of  char¬ 
coal  in  which  a  groove  is  cut  to  receive  the  second 
link  of  the  chain  while  the  first  lies  perfectly  flat 
on  a  charcoal  block.  Of  course  the  other  end  of  the 
chain  is  doubled  up  into  the  end  of  the  block  or  al¬ 
lowed  to  pass  over  the  edge,  in  which  case  it  is  se¬ 
cured  by  holding  it  with  the  index  finger  or  thumb 
of  the  left  hand.  This  being  understood,  the  re¬ 
pairer  will,  after  the  chain  is  perfectly  clean,  lay  a 
small  piece  of  gold,  filed  somewhat  to  the  shape  of 
the  worn  spot,  in  position  and  charge  with  borax 
and  solder.  Then  the  piece  of  gold  is  soldered  in 
place  and  the  end  of  the  chain  dipped  into  the  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  pickle  and  rinsed  in  clean  water.  The 
other  end  is  then  placed  in  the  position  of  the  first 
and  soldered  in  the  same  way.  Then,  by  repeating 
this,  link  after  link,  each  one  as  it  is  refilled  is 


REPATRING  CORNETS. 


fil 


doubled  back  on  the  chain.  The  whole  chain  will 
be  refilled  without  much  difficulty.  After  the  en¬ 
tire  chain  has  been  refilled  it  should  be  boiled  out 
in  the  sulphuric  acid  pickle  and  rinsed  in  clean 
water.  Then  the  links  are  filed  into  shape  and  as 
the  finishing  is  a  matter  of  everyday  practice,  we 
will  not  go  into  any  details  on  that  head. 

The  worn  rings  of  the  toggle  cause  much  more 
trouble  than  the  larger  links  of  the  chain.  In  most 
cases  it  is  advisable  to  cut  the  rings  apart  to  refill 
the  worn  spots.  In  some  chains  there  are  two 
links  soldered  together.  Should  this  be  the  case, 
cut  the  end  link  of  the  two  and  then  every  other 
one  in  the  same  order.  After  being  refilled  the  cut 
link  can  easily  be  soldered  by  using  a  little  care. 
As  these  toggles  are  rather  difficult  to  polish  in¬ 
side  they  may  be  cleaned  and  given  a  dip  in  the 
Roman  coloring  solution.  We  have  known  repair¬ 
ers  to  pursue  the  same  method  with  the  inside  of 
the  larger  chain  links ;  but  where  polishing  can  be 
done  it  would  repay  one  to  do  a  little  extra  work, 
as  the  chain  will  look  a  great  deal  better  for  so 
doing. 

Cornets  to  Repair. — As  jewelers  are  frequently 
called  upon  to  repair  musical  instruments  and  es¬ 
pecially  cornets,  we  will  endeavor  to  state  how  the 
more  frequent  breaks  are  repaired.  The  valves  us¬ 
ually  cause  the  most  trouble,  either  because  they  are 
tight  and  cannot  be  moved  or  the  slide  will  go  down 
and  not  spring  up.  To  remedy  this  defect  it  is 
necessary  to  take  the  valve  apart,  both  below  and 
at  the  top.  Then  perfectly  clean  all  the  parts  and 
if  it  is  seen  that  there  is  any  considerable  friction 
anywhere,  take  powdered  pumice  stone  and  water 
and  place  some  inside  the  tube  and  insert  and  re¬ 
volve  the  slide  on  the  inside  until  all  friction  is 
overcome,  when  it  and  the  dirt  are  removed  and  the 


02  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


parts  re-adjusted.  If  it  works  easily  the  defect  is 
remedied,  but  if  it  does  not  it  will  be  necessary  to 
use  caution  in  the  rubbing  process  so  that  the  slide 
or  valve  tube  is  not  bent  or  dented.  The  slides  and 
caps  of  the  valve  should  occasionally  be  oiled,  both 
above  and  below.  No  more  oil  than  is  absolutely 
necessary  should  be  used,  as  it  would  work  into  the 
valves  and  cause  trouble.  Sometimes  it  would  be 
well  if  the  repairer  would  pour  several  quarts  of 
water  into  the  bell  and  turn  the  instrument  so  that 
it  would  cleanse  the  inside,  the  water  being  then  al¬ 
lowed  to  flow  out  at  the  mouth-piece.  The  cork  or 
padding  at  the  water-key  should  always  fit  tightly, 
as  the  slightest  leak  at  this  point  would  impair  the 
tone  of  the  instrument.  Should  the  metal  edge  be 
broken  off,  remove  the  spring  and,  after  thoroughly 
cleaning  both  parts,  apply  soldering  fluid  and  soft 
solder  on  the  inside  edge  and  solder  with  the  blow¬ 
pipe.  If  care  be  taken  the  solder  will  not  flow  on 
the  outside.  Then  apply  a  little  non-gumming  oil 
to  the  spring  and  wipe  it  off  thoroughly  before  re¬ 
adjusting  it.  It  is  advisable  to  use  as  little  on  as 
possible  in  a  cornet  and  especially  on  the  valves. 
Saliva  is  the  best  lubricator  we  know  of  for  this  pur¬ 
pose. 

Combs  to  Repair. — When  the  silver  backs  of 
combs  are  cracked  the  rivet  holding  them  in  posi¬ 
tion  should  be  removed  by  filing  off  the  smallest 
head  and  pushing  it  out  by  using  the  rivet  pliers  oi 
a  small  punch.  Then  scrape  the  fractured  edges 
and  join  nicely  on  a  piece  of  charcoal.  Charge  with 
borax  and  solder  on  the  inside,  otherwise  the  solder 
will  flow  or  lump  on  the  outside  in  the  scroll  work 
or  engraving.  The  solder  on  the  inside  will  act  as 
a  brace  in  places  where  before  there  was  a  strain. 
Should  there  be  but  two  rivets  which  secure  the 
back  to  the  comb,  it  would  be  advisable  to  put  in 
one  or  two  more  to  make  the  back  more  secure. 


MAKING  CASTS. 


03 

When  the  comb  itself  is  broken  the  repairer  can- 
noi  do  better  than  to  put  in  a  new  one.  Sometimes 
celluloid  combs  are  joined  together,  but  it  is  better 
to  put  a  new  one  in  at  once.  Tortoise  shell  combs 
are  quite  frequently  repaired.  This  is  done  by  soft¬ 
ening  the  parts  in  clean  boiling  water  and  then  join¬ 
ing  them  between  heated  plates  in  a  vise.  This  is 
a  job  which  requires  considerable  skill  and  exper¬ 
ience,  but  it  is  worth  the  repairer’s  time  to  try  it. 
After  the  comb  is  repaired,  or,  for  that  matter,  any 
tortoise  shell  article  which  is  brought  in,  it  is  pol¬ 
ished  by  using  a  mixture  of  soap  and  whiting  on  the 
rotary  bristle  brush  and  finally  on  the  flannel  buff. 
Another  and  perhaps  a  cleaner  polishing  prepara¬ 
tion  is  made  by  intimately  mixing  vaseline  and  rot¬ 
ten  stone  or  olive  oil  and  rotten  stone.  The  bristle 
brush  should  be  used  first  and  care  exercised  that 
the  friction  does  not  burn  the  shell.  The  buff  is 
used  next,  after  which  the  article  is  briskly  rubbed 
with  the  palm  of  the  hand. 

Casts  to  Make. — Very  often  the  repairer  meets 
with  articles  as  heads,  eagles,  etc.,  of  which  it  is  de¬ 
sirable  to  keep  models.  In  order  to  do  this  he 
should  provide  himself  with  a  soft  wax,  usually 
called  impression  wax,  and  fine  calcium  plaster.  To 
take  an  impression  the  article,  if  possible,  is  laid  on 
a  flat  surface,  and  after  the  wax  has  been  moistened 
on  the  tongue,  it  is  pressed  on  to  the  article.  Care, 
however,  should  be  taken  that  it  is  pressed  down 
evenly  without  a  rocking  motion,  otherwise  the  im¬ 
pression  will  be  imperfect.  After  the  wax  impres¬ 
sion  has  been  obtained,  mix  calcium  plaster  with 
water  until  it  is  the  consistency  of  a  medium  thick 
paste,  and  pour  into  the  mould.  In  doing  this  it 
would  be  well  to  stick  a  pin  or  point  into  the  plaster, 
to  allow  all  air  to  escape.  If  this  were  not  done, 
small  air  bubbles  or  hollows  in  the  model  would  be 


04  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 

the  result.  The  plaster  is  allowed  to  dry  slowly  for 
several  hours,  or  until  it  is  perfectly  hardened. 
Then  the  model  can  easily  be  removed  by  pressing 
the  wax  away  from  it  on  all  sides.  * 

If  the  workman  can  keep  the  article  long  enough, 
it  would  be  advisable  for  him  to  make  a  plaster  im¬ 
pression  of  the  article  instead  of  one  of  wax.  Pro¬ 
ceed  in  the  manner  outlined  above,  and  after  the 
plaster  has  dried,  which  usually  requires  from  two 
to  four  hours,  the  article  can  be  removed.  This  is 
done  by  taking  a  point  or  knife  and  inserting  it  un¬ 
der  an  edge  where  the  metal  will  be  poured  when  a 
casting  is  made.  For  instance,  we  have  an  elk  head 
of  which  we  desire  to  have  a  metal  copy.  Place  it 
on  a  flat  surface,  and  pour  the  plaster  paste  over  it. 
When  dry  take  a  pointer  and  insert  it  at  the  neck 
or  what  would  be  the  base  of  the  head.  Then  after 
the  head  is  removed  from  the  plaster  cast  a  groove 
or  trough  is  cut  to  the  edge  of  the  plaster  to  allow 
the  free  passage  of  the  molten  metal.  Another 
plaster  cast  having  a  flat  surface  can  be  made,  and 
this  should  have  a  trough  cut  into  it  to  correspond 
to  the  other  one.  The  trough  should  be  larger  at 
the  mouth  than  at  the  model,  so  as  to  receive  the 
metal  better,  and  for  the  pressure.  Then  if  it  be  so 
desired,  a  leaden  model  can  be  made  which  will  be 
ready  for  use  at  all  times.  This  is  made  by  melt¬ 
ing  lead  in  a  tin  boxlid  and  pouring  it  into  the 
mould.  Allow  to  cool  for  several  minutes,  and  lift 
the  side  with  the  flat  surface.  Then  the  leaden 
model  can  be  removed  and  cooled,  after  which  it  is 
finished  to  correspond  to  the  original. 

Earrings  to  Repair. — The  connecting  rings  on 
earrings  usually  break  where  the  rings  rub  to¬ 
gether.  If  these  are  not  worn  too  thin  or  broken 
off,  they  can  easily  be  refilled.  To  do  this  remove 


TO  REMOVE  ENGRAVING. 


65 


all  stones  that  are  likely  to  be  injured  when  heated, 
and  anti-oxidize  the  setting.  A  suitable  piece  of 
solder  is  then  laid  upon  the  worn  spot  and  heated 
until  it  melts  and  flushes  the  worn  parts.  Very  lit¬ 
tle  filing  is  necessary  if  care  has  been  taken  in  the 
soldering,  as  the  solder  will  conform  to  the  shape 
of  the  ring.  When  all  the  rings  are  refilled,  boil 
them  in  the  sulphuric  acid  pickle  and  rinse  in  clean 
water.  Then  join  all  the  parts,  and  proceed  with 
the  polishing.  If  the  rings  are  broken  off,  make  or 
secure  wire  of  the  original  thickness  of  the  connect¬ 
ing  rings  and  take  a  piece  of  steel  wire  which 
would  pass  through  the  original  ring  and  fasten  it 
together  with  the  end  of  the  gold  wire  in  a  hand 
vise.  Then  by  holding  the  hand  vise  in  the  right 
hand  and  the  end  of  the  gold  wire  with  a  pair  of 
pliers  in  the  left  hand,  proceed  to  revolve  the  hand 
vise  away  from  the  body.  This  will  make  a  spring 
which  can  easily  be  slipped  from  the  steel  wire. 
Then  with  a  saw-blade  saw  lengthwise  on  the  top 
of  the  spring  until  the  rings  separate.  These  are 
called  jump  rings,  a^d  they  are  now  ready  to  re¬ 
place  the  worn  or  broken  rings. 

With  the  flat  pliers  join  the  ends  of  the  jump  ring 
and  file  a  flat  surface  right  on  the  joint.  These 
rings  are  used  on  the  bows  or  wires.  Those  used 
on  the  settings  have  the  flat  surface  filed  to  one 
side  of  the  joint,  to  allow  the  ring  to  be  opened  to 
engage  the  top  one. 

Engraving  to  Remove. — The  repairer  is  some¬ 
times  called  upon  to  remove  engraving  from  silver 
handles,  watch  case  shields,  etc.  The  former  can 
be  removed  with  a  file  having  a  curved  end,  the  file 
marks  being  removed  by  the  use  of  a  piece  of  Scotch 
hone  and  water. 

Engraving  on  the  shields  of  gold  or  silver  cases 
can  be  removed  in  the  manner  just  described,  but 


GO  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


on  filled  or  plated  cases  a  piece  of  metal  must  be 
placed  over  the  engraving. 

Take  a  print  or  pattern  of  the  shield,  and  make 
one  out  of  a  thin  piece  of  gold  or  plate  which  will 
cover  the  entire  surface  of  the  shield.  Then  lay  the 
under  side  of  the  piece  on  a  fiat  piece  of  charcoal  and 
flush  it  with  a  thin  layer  of  silver  solder.  Then 
clean  the  piece  in  pickle  and  rub  a  file  over  the 
solder  to  smooth  and  remove  any  excess.  The  two 
surfaces  to  be  joined  are  then  cleaned  thoroughly, 
boraxecl  and  joined.  The  piece  is  secured  in  posi¬ 
tion  by  means  of  binding  wire  placed  around  the 
back  and  drawn  tight.  Then  one  end  is  cut  off  right 
inside  the  snap  edge  and  bent  down  so  as  to  hold 
the  wire  in  place.  The  other  end  is  bent  over  and 
cut  off  in  the  same  manner.  This  method  of  tying 
on  a  plate  will  prevent  the  back  from  being  drawn 
out  of  shape  while  being  heated.  Anti-oxiclize  the 
back  inside  and  outside,  and  allow  it  to  dry.  Then 
with  a  steady  flame  heat  the  entire  back  until  the 
solder  melts  and  shows  a  white  line  at  the  edge  of 
the  shield.  The  back  is  allowed  to  cool  and  the  wire 
removed,  after  which  it  is  cleaned  in  pickle  and 
polished  inside  before  it  is  fastened  to  the  center. 

Some  repairers  use  soft  solder  for  this  work,  but 
wherever  hard  solder  can  be  used  it  would  be  much 
better  to  do  so.  After  the  shield  is  soldered  in  po¬ 
sition  and  the  back  polished,  the  repairer  should 
bevel  the  edge  of  the  plate  by  bright-cutting  it  with 
a  flat  graver. 

Fluxes. — Crystallized  borax,  obtainable  in  drug 
stores,  is  one  of  the  best  fluxes  for  the  jewelry  re¬ 
pairer's  use.  Prepared  borax,  containing  sal  am¬ 
moniac,  is  very  good  and  is  used  by  very  many  re¬ 
pairers.  Liquid  fluxes,  used  for  anti-oxidizing  as 
well  as  for  fluxing,  are  good,  but  they  have  a  ten¬ 
dency  to  cause  the  solder  to  spring  away  when  the 


REPAIRING  FOUNTAIN  PENS.  G7 

flux  is  heated.  Cyanide  of  potassium  is  a  good  flux, 
but  is  entirely  too  dangerous  to  be  used  about  the 
work  bench.  Many  repairers  unconsciously  hold 
the  fluxing  brush  between  the  teeth  while  working 
on  a  job  requiring  several  solders,  and  if  cyanide  of 
potassium  were  used,  the  results  might  be  fatal  to 
the  workman. 

Filigree  Work  to  Clean. — Filigree  work  is  cleaned 
by  laying  it  on  charcoal  and  heating  it  to  a  dull  red 
with  a  steady,  even  flame.  Then  allow  it  to  cool 
before  placing  into  the  sulphuric  acid  pickle.  If  the 
dead  white  finish  is  not  desired,  a  bright  finish  can 
be  obtained  by  the  use  of  the  brass  scratch  brush, 
which  should  be  kept  wet  with  water.  If  the  edges 
only  are  to  be  bright,  put  some  moist  baking  soda 
onto  a  towel  and  rub  the  parts  to  be  made  bright. 

Fountain  Pens  to  Repair. — Jewelers  are  fre¬ 
quently  called  upon  to  unscrew  fountain  pen  hold¬ 
ers  at  the  joint.  To  do  this,  hold  the  joint  over  an 
alcohol  flame  until  warmed  and,  then,  by  grasping 
an  end  in  each  hand,  suddenly  twist  as  in  unscrew¬ 
ing.  If  sufficiently  warmed  the  parts  will  separate 
with  ease.  If  the  pen  does  not  feed  sufficiently  take 
it  apart  and  clean  thoroughly  with  alcohol.  Grain 
or  wood  alcohol  can  be  used  for  this  purpose.  Then 
put  the  pen  together  and,  in  many  cases,  it  will  be 
all  right.  If  this  does  not  remedy  the  defect,  the 
capillary  channels  are  too  small,  or  the  position  of 
the  feeder  should  be  changed.  Very  little  enlarging 
of  the  channel  will  often  change  the  flow  of  the  ink 
from  the  barrel.  It  would  be  almost  impossible  for 
a  jeweler  to  repoint  the  nib,  as  this  is  a  very  diffi¬ 
cult  and  tedious  piece  of  work ;  therefore,  when  a 
job  of  this  kind  is  brought  in,  it  should  be  sent  to 
a  manufacturer,  who  is  thoroughly  equipped  for  this 
work.  If  the  barrel  of  a  fountain  pen  becomes  worn 


08  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


and  it  is  to  be  repolished,  smooth  the  surface  with 
pulverized  pumice  stone  and  oil.  Wash  this  off  and 
polish  the  article  with  oil  and  rotten  stone.  If  the 
cap  of  a  fountain  pen  becomes  so  large  as  to  easily 
slip  off  the  barrel,  it  should  be  tightened.  A  piece 
of  heavy  binding  wire  is  taken  and  passed  around 
the  cap  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  from  its  ex¬ 
tremity.  Then  by  twisting  the  two  ends  the  cap 
can  be  contracted  so  as  to  fit  the  barrel  tightly. 
When  it  is  as  desired,  gently  heat  the  contracted 
part  over  an  alcohol  flame  and  allow  to  cool,  and  re¬ 
move  the  wire.  If  warmed  sufficiently  the  cap  will 
be  just  as  it  was  when  bound  by  the  wire. 

Fobs  to  Repair. — Fobs  usually  have  the  silk  worn 
so  that  the  putting  in  of  new  silk  is  all  that  is  re¬ 
quired.  Before  doing  this  the  attachments  should 
be  tested,  and  if  found  satisfactory,  they  are  polish¬ 
ed.  See  that  all  jump  rings  are  evenly  joined  and 
the  swivel  in  good  working  order.  Then,  after  in¬ 
serting  the  silk,  stitch  it  and  the  bar  so  that  it  will 
stay  in  position.  The  lower  ends  may  be  cut  square 
and  frayed  or  cut  into  an  inverted  V-shape.  The 
latter  is  preferable. 

Ferrules  to  Make. — Cracked  umbrella  handles  and 
fountain  pens  are  sometimes  brought  to  the  jeweler 
to  have  ferrule  placed  around  them.  This  is  a  job 
that  requires  accuracy,  for  the  ferrule  should  fit 
tightly  to  overcome  the  trouble  and  should  not  be 
higher  than  the  surface  of  the  article,  if  it  is  to  be 
placed  on  the  end.  To  make  a  ferrule,  secure  a 
piece  of  the  metal — brass,  silver,  etc. — the  desired 
length  and  width.  Then  cut  a  groove  around  the 
handle  so  that  the  depth  will  not  be  quite  as  much 
as  the  thickness  of  the  metal,  and  tie  a  piece  of 
binding  wire  around  the  grooved  part  and  twist  the 
ends  together.  Cut  this  apart  at  the  twist  and  the 


REDUCING  FILINGS. 


S9 

piece  will  be  the  length  of  the  strip  for  the  ferrule. 
Mark  off  the  distance  on  the  strip  and  bend  up  the 
ends,  as  in  making  a  ring.  The  joint  is  prepared, 
joined  and  soldered,  after  which  the  solder  on  the 
inside  should  be  removed.  The  rounding  up  some¬ 
times  causes  considerable  trouble  if  one  does  not 
have  different  sized  mandrils,  but  by  means  of 
screwdrivers — pieces  of  round  steel — this  can  easily 
be  done.  When  the  ferrule  is  round,  fit  it  to  the 
piece  and  if  it  is  a  little  tight  it  may  be  forced  on. 
It  is  better  to  have  it  this  way  than  have  it  too 
loose.  If  it  is  found  to  be  all  right,  remove  it  and 
file  the  surface  and  edges,  and  then,  after  removing 
the  file  marks  with  emery  and  scotch-hone,  polish 
it.  Place  it  on  the  edge  of  the  prepared  part  and 
strike  the  upper  edge  with  a  rawhide  mallet  to  drive 
it  into  position.  When  this  is  done  file  the  top  edge 
smooth  and  even  with  the  wood  and  smooth  with  a 
burnisher.  There  are  many  kinds  of  ferrules  to  be 
made,  but  by  following  the  principle  here  given  no 
trouble  will  be  found  while  making  any  of  them. 

Filings  to  Reduce. — Jewelers  who  do  not  save  the 
filings  from  their  work  bench  would  be  surprised  at 
the  amount  of  gold  that  is  lost  in  a  year.  These 
should  be  collected  and  cleaned  every  week.  When 
a  sufficient  quantity  has  been  gathered,  it  may  be 
reduced  and  melted.  The  filings  are  placed  into  a 
sheet-iron  box,  lined  with  a  piece  of  tissue  paper 
and  placed  over  a  charcoal  fire.  This  will  cause  the 
wood  filings  and  other  foreign  matters  to  be  de¬ 
stroyed.  When  the  filings  have  undergone  this 
treatment  sufficiently — which  will  be  known  when 
they  cease  burning  and  become  black — cool  and 
place  them  into  an  iron  mortar.  With  a  pestle 
reduce  very  fine  and  go  through  them  with  a 
strong  magnet  to  remove  all  steel  and  iron  filings. 
The  filings  are  then,  thoroughly  mixed  with  an 


70  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


equal  amount  of  saltpetre  and  placed  into  a  large 
crucible  which  should  be  about  three-fourths  full 
of  the  mixture  and  saltpetre  added  to  entirely  fill  it. 
This  is  placed  in  the  melting  forge  until  the  metal 
melts  and  flows  to  the  bottom,  where  it  forms  into 
a  button.  Many  jewelers  send  the  button  thus  ob¬ 
tained  to  the  mint  or  to  a  refiner.  This  is  certainly 
the  best  way  of  dealing  with  it ;  but  as  somd  may 
wish  to  separate  the  metals  we  will  describe  the 
methods  employed : 

The  button  of  gold  is  taken  and  to  it  is  added 
about  one-half  of  its  weight  of  silver  and  the  two  are 
melted  together  and,  when  thoroughly  incorporated, 
are  cast  into  an  ingot  mould.  Borax  or  potash  can 
be  used  as  a  flux,  when  melting  the  two.  The  bar 
of  gold  thus  obtained  is  rolled  until  it  is  very  thin, 
after  which  it  is  cut  up  into  small  pieces  and  placed 
in  a  glass  jar  or  other  suitable  vessel  to  which  ni¬ 
tric  acid  and  water  in  the  following  proportions  are 
added : 

Gold  .  i  oz. 

Nitric  Acid .  i  oz.  (fluid  oz.). 

Water  .  2  oz.  “ 

The  acid  should  be  slowly  heated  and  allowed  to 
act  for  several  hours  when  all  the  alloys  excepting 
the  gold  will  become  dissolved.  The  latter  will  be 
found  at  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  in  the  form  of  a 
dark  brown  powder.  When  the  acid  fails  to  pre¬ 
cipitate  any  more  of  the  dark  brown  powder,  it 
should  be  decanted  into  another  vessel  and  saved. 
The  dark  brown  powder  should  be  thoroughly 
washed  with  hot  water  to  remove  any  trace  of  alloy 
that  still  remains.  The  water  is  then  poured  off 
and  the  powder  allowed  to  dry.  This  is  melted 
with  borax  or  potash  and  the  resultant  bar  will  be 
pure  gold  or  very  nearly  so.  If,  when  working  up, 
the  gold  is  brittle,  it  may  be  understood  that  the 
baser  metals  were  not  all  removed.  In  that  case 


MAKING  JUMP  RINGS. 


71 


the  refining  process  should  be  repeated.  The 
trouble  and  expense  connected  with  this  work  is 
greater  than  it  would  be  if  the  jeweler  would  send 
the  filings,  together  with  his  polishing  dirt  and 
sweepings,  to  a  refiner,  who  would  have  all  the  dirt 
and  trouble  and  yet  charge  a  very  small  sum  for 
its  reduction.  If  salt  is  added  to  the  decanted 
liquid,  previously  mentioned,  the  silver  will  be  pre¬ 
cipitated  to  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  as  a  nitrate. 
This  is  washed  with  warm  water  to  remove  all  for¬ 
eign  matter  and  dried.  Melt  with  borax  and  cast 
into  ignot  moulds.  To  make  a  silver  plating  solu¬ 
tion  add  a  saturated  solution  of  cyanide  of  potas¬ 
sium  until  all  the  silver  is  redissolved. 

Impressions. — Engravers  frequently  desire  to 
take  a  print  or  impression  of  a  fine  piece  of  en¬ 
graving.  The  best  method  that  has  come  to  our 
notice  for  doing  this  is  to  touch  the  finger  to  the 
tongue  and  slightly  moisten  the  engraved  surface. 
Then  heat  a  stick  of  good  sealing  wax  and  press  it 
onto  the  engraving.  The  piece  of  wax  should  be 
large  enough  to  cover  the  engraving  without 
spreading,  otherwise  the  impression  will  be  spoiled. 
When  the  cement  has  cooled  remove  it  from  the  en¬ 
graving  and  coat  it  lightly  with  printer’s  ink.  Take 
the  print  from  this  in  the  usual  manner. 

Jump  Rings  to  Make. — Gold  and  silver  as  as  well 
plated  jump  rings  of  various  sizes  should  be  kept 
on  hand  by  every  workman.  Secure  a  piece  of  wire 
of  the  metal  needed  and  draw  it  to  the  desired 
thickness.  Then  anneal  and  polish  it  with  fine 
emery  paper,  a  chamois  rubbed  with  tripoli  com¬ 
position,  and  ,  finally,  with  a  rouged  chamois. 
After  polishing  the  wire,  fasten  it  and  the  desired 
size  of  forming  wire  in  a  hand  vise.  Then  hold  the 
end  of  the  wire  in  the  left  hand  and  revolve  the 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


r-2 

hand  vise  in  the  right  hand.  This  will  form  a  spring 
on  the  forming  wire,  which,  when  sawed  apart 
lengthwise  will  separate  the  rings,  which  are  tech¬ 
nically  called  jump  rings. 

Locks  to  Repair. — The  tops  of  small  bracelet 
locks  very  often  become  loosened  when  the  key  is 
withdrawn.  To  resolder  these  tops  clean  the  sur¬ 
faces  thoroughly  and  apply  the  soldering  fluid. 
Very  little  or  no  extra  solder  is  needed.  Place  the 
top  onto  the  lock  and  hold  the  two  in  position  [w 
means  of  the  split  tweezers  and  heat  until  the  sol¬ 
der  flows  and  joins  the  two  parts.  The  surplus 
solder  is  easily  removed  with  the  scraper. 

Mosaic  Pins  to  Repair.— Broken  mosaic  pins  and 
brooches  are  soldered  by  placing  them  top  down¬ 
ward  on  a  piece  of  sheet  iron  or  other  metal.  It 
would  be  advisable  to  tie  the  two  together  when¬ 
ever  this  is  practicable.  Soft  solder  only  can  be 
used. 

Mercury  to  Remove. — Mercury  on  gold  and  sil¬ 
ver  articles  is  removed  either  by  heat  or  by  nitric 
acid.  The  latter  is  the  preferable  method.  Apply 
the  acid  with  the  long  stopper  of  the  acid  bottle  and 
after  a  moment  or  so  rinse  the  article  in  water  and 
repolish  it. 

Mirror  Backs  to  Wash. — Sterling  silver  mirrors, 
after  being  polished,  can  be  washed  without  any 
danger  of  water  getting  back  of  the  glass,  by  folding 
a  towel  and  laying  it  on  a  stool  or  table  upon 
which  the  mirror  is  laid  with  the  glass  downward. 
When  washing  or  brushing,  the  water  which 
passes  over  the  edge  of  the  mirror  back  will  be  ab¬ 
sorbed  by  the  towel. 

Nuts  to  Tighten. — The  holes  in  earring  nuts  are 
closed  by  placing  the  nut  in  a  vise  and  striking  the 


REMOVING  GILDING. 


73 

hole  with  a  staking  tool  or  punch.  Afterward  cut 
a  thread  to  correspond  with  the  one  on  the  post. 

Fans  to  Repair. — Broken  fan  sticks  are  usually 
repaired  by  riveting  a  strip  of  metal  about  i  or  il/2 
inches  long  over  the  break.  Another  way  is  to  cut 
a  groove  on  the  under  side  of  the  stick,  about  of 
an  inch  wide  and  about  l/2  inch  long  on  either  side 
of  the  break.  This  groove  should  be  from  a  32d  to 
a  16th  of  an  inch  in  depth.  Into  this  groove  is 
fitted  a  piece  of  bone  or  other  hard  substance  and 
cemented  with  a  strong  glue.  Major’s  cement  has 
been  found  an  excellent  article  for  this  purpose. 
After  drying  thoroughly  the  surplus  cement  and 
inserted  bone  can  be  removed  with  a  file.  This 
method  of  repairing  fan  sticks  is,  no  doubt,  the  best 
and  neatest.  When  the  sticks  part  at  the  joints, 
clean  the  edges  and  re-cement.  Always  allow  the 
glue  or  cement  to  become  perfectly  hardened  be¬ 
fore  attempting  to  finish  the  repair  job.  For  glu¬ 
ing  down  lace,  etc.,  a  mere  trifle  of  Major’s  cement, 
applied  with  a  match  stick,  will  secure  it  without 
any  of  it  showing  through. 

Gilding  to  Remove. — Gilding  on  articles  can  be 
removed  by  the  electrical  process  or  by  heating. 
By  the  first  method  the  article  is  attached  to  the 
positive  pole  of  a  battery  and  immersed  into  a 
saturated  cyanide  solution.  Then  attach  a  piece  of 
copper  to  the  negative  wire  and  immerse  into  the 
solution.  The  gold  will  be  dissolved  from  the  gild¬ 
ed  article  and  a  part  held  in  solution,  while  some  of 
it  will  be  deposited  on  to  the  copper  plate.  The 
second  method  is  the  quickest  and  in  many  cases 
the  best.  Lay  the  gilded  article  on  a  piece  of  char¬ 
coal  and  heat  to  redness.  Allow  it  to  cool  and  im¬ 
merse  into  the  sulphuric  acid  pickle  for  an  hour. 
One  heating  often  is  sufficient,  but  if  the  gilding  is 
not  perfectly  removed  proceed  as  before. 


74 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


Isinglass. — This  substance  is  used  instead  of 
glass  for  covering  pictures,  etc.,  in  lockets  and  is 
much  easier  to  cut  into  the  proper  shape  and  size. 
It  is  also  used  when  soldering  enameled  articles. 
Lay  the  isinglass  on  the  charcoal  and  place  the  ar¬ 
ticle  on  it.  Thus,  when  the  enamel  becomes  soft 
it  will  adhere  to  the  isinglass  and  not  become  cov¬ 
ered  with  charcoal  spots,  etc. 

Inkstand  Tops  to  Remove. — Inkstand  and  vinia- 
grette  tops  are  removed  by  soaking  the  articles  in 
warm  water  for  an  hour  or  so  to  soften  the  calcium 
plaster.  Then  with  a  screwdriver,  knife,  etc., 
gently  force  the  top  upward.  This  method  very 
seldom  fails  to  remove  any  top,  no  matter  how  se¬ 
curely  it  is  fastened. 

Tooth  Brushes  to  Fit. — Jewelers  will  find  a  cir¬ 
cular  disc  of  wood  covered  with  coarse  emery  cloth 
and  nailed  onto  an  old  bristle  brush  very  useful  in 
cutting  down  tooth  brushes  to  fit  into  silver 
handles. 

Polishing. — The  finishing  of  work  after  being  re¬ 
paired  is  as  important  as  the  repairing  itself.  As 
polishing  is  nothing  more  than  removing  all 
scratches  and  marks  from  the  surfaces,  we  will 
consider  the  abrasives  used  for  this  purpose.  Gen¬ 
erally  speaking,  tripoli  and  rouge  are  all  that  most 
repairers  use,  and  in  many  cases  are  all  that  are 
necessary.  Before  going  further  it  may  be  well  to 
mention  that  the  very  coarse  file  marks  and 
scratches  are  removed  with  an  emery  stick  or  by 
using  a  piece  of  moistened  Scotch-hone.  The  latter 
is  obtained  in  square  sticks  about  four  inches  long 
and  about  j^-inch  square.  When  in  it  shotdd 
be  kept  wet,  and  as  it  is  softer  than  V  vnotal  op¬ 
erated  upon  a  mudlike  mixture  will  form  on  the  Sur- 


POLISHING. 


75 


face,  which  must  be  washed  off  frequently  to  as¬ 
certain  the  progress  made.  When  all  marks  are  re¬ 
moved  the  articles  are  ready  to  be  polished  on  the 
lathe. 

Tripoli  is  the  first  abrasive  used  in  connection 
with  an  inside  felt  ring  buff  or  on  a  bristle  brush. 
This  substance  can  be  obtained  in  the  form  of 
lumps,  which  are  covered  with  oil  before  using. 
A  more  desirable  tripoli  mixture  is  to  be  obtained 
from  all  material  dealers  and  is  known  as  tripoli 
composition.  If  the  repairer  desires  to  make  it 
himself,  he  can  do  so  by  melting  nine  parts  of  sperm 
candle  and  into  this  stir  12  parts  of  powdered  tri¬ 
poli.  When  thoroughly  mixed  it  can  be  poured 
into  boxes  or  moulds  and  kept  for  use.  Rouge, 
which  is  oxide  of  iron,  would  be  too  troublesome 
for  the  repairer  to  make  himself,  and,  besides,  it 
can  be  bought  cheaper  than  he  could  make  it  him¬ 
self.  The  kind  preferred  is  hard  rouge,  known  as 
XXG.  Soft  rouge  mixed  with  alcohol  is  used  for 
finishing  fine  silver  pieces  before  dry-buffing  them. 

As  a  rule,  most  jewelers  use  a  foot-lathe  for  their 
polishing,  which  answers  very  well,  but  many 
others  are  now  running  their  lathes  with  electric 
motors,  which,  without  a  doubt,  is  a  great  ad¬ 
vantage  to  the  polisher,  especially  if  he  is  called 
upon  to  repolish  the  gold  and  silver  stock  of  the 
store.  In  connection  with  the  lathe  very  few  buffs, 
brushes,  etc.,  are  needed  by  the  average  repairer, 
and  generally  these  are : 

2  cotton  wheel  buffs ; 

2  canton  flannel  wheel  buffs  ; 

2  felt  buffs ; 

2  taper  felt  buffs  for  inside  of  rings; 

1  taper  cotton  buff  for  inside  of  rings ; 

2  2-row  black  bristle  brushes. 

2  4-row  black  bristle  brushes. 

With  these  brushes  and  buffs  nearly  all  repair  work 


76 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


can  be  polished,  but  for  some  jobs  special  buffs, 
brushes,  etc.,  can  be  obtained  and  in  many  cases 
the  repairer  can  make  them  himself. 

A  metallic  lap,  composed  of  a  mixture  of  two 
parts  of  pure  grain  tin  and  one  part  of  pure  lead — 
will  be  found  very  useful  for  giving  band  rings  or 
new  ring  shanks  the  appearance  and  polish  they 
had  when  new.  Lapping  is  rather  difficult  for  any¬ 
one  who  does  not  have  much  of  this  work  to  do, 
but  when  one  has  mastered  the  art  very  satisfac¬ 
tory  work  will  be  the  result.  When  lapping  a 
band  ring  it  is  held  between  the  thumb  and  fore¬ 
finger  of  the  right  hand  and  applied  to  the  surface 
of  the  lap  so  that  all  parts  of  the  ring  surface  will 
touch  evenly.  Then  when  on  the  lap  give  the  ring 
a  circular,  up  and  down  motion  so  as  to  smooth  or 
lap  as  much  of  the  surface  as  possible.  When  one 
part  is  done  satisfactorily  take  the  ring  from  the 
lap  with  a  quick  motion  and  apply  another  part  of 
the  surface  to  be  polished.  A  wooden  lap,  which 
would  answer  the  repairer’s  needs,  can  be  made  by 
taking  a  disc  of  wood  six  or  eight  inches  in  diam¬ 
eter  and  cutting  a  hole  in  the  center  of  it  to  fit  the 
spindle  of  the  lathe  head.  Polishing  lathe  spindles 
usually  have  a  thread  cut  on  them  to  receive  a  nut 
with  which  the  lap  is  held  in  position  against  the 
shoulder  cut  into  the  spindle.  When  cut  and 
shaped  as  desired  the  disc  of  wood  is  placed  on  the 
lathe  and  smoothed  with  fine  sandpaper.  This  lap, 
with  the  use  of  the  tripoli  composition,  will  assist 
the  polisher  considerably  in  producing  nice,  sharp 
work.  Another  small  wooden  lap  having  its  in¬ 
ner  side  cut  down  so  as  to  form  a  knife  edge  on 
the  lap,  will,  with  the  use  of  the  tripoli  composi¬ 
tion,  be  found  very  useful  for  lapping  the  sides  of 
prongs  in  new  settings,  etc.  This  lap  should  be 
considerably  smaller  than  the  first  one  and  can  be 
nailed  on  to  the  side  of  a  worn-out  four  row  brush. 


POLISHING. 


77 


The  polishing  outht  would  not  be  complete  with¬ 
out  brass  and  steel  wire  brushes.  The  former  is 
used  to  clean  work  before  gilding  and  to  finish  it 
after  being  colored.  The  steel  wire  brush  is  used 
for  satin  finishing  or  “frosting”  silver  work.  All 
that  need  be  explained  about  satin  finishing  is  that 
the  surfaces  should  be  free  from  all  scratches  and 
of  a  dead  white  color.  This  is  obtained  by  heating 
the  article  to  redness  and,  after  cooling,  it  is  placed 
in  the  sulphuric  acid  pickle  until  it  is  perfectly 
white.  Then  hold  the  article  between  the  index 
fingers  and  thumbs  of  both  hands  and  present  its 
surfaces  to  the  brush  in  such  a  manner  that  the  ends 
of  the  wires  will  strike  equally  and  evenly.  It  is 
advisable  to  keep  the  brush  and  articles  moistened 
with  water  or  stale  beer  to  produce  a  nice  finish. 
With  these  preliminary  explanations  we  are  ready 
to  proceed  with  the  subject  of  polishing — for  in¬ 
stance,  of  one  day’s  repair  work,  which  usually  con¬ 
sists  of  rings,  brooches,  etc.  This  method  of  des¬ 
cribing  the  polishing  process  is  taken  in  order  to 
avoid  a  separate  description  of  the  buffs,  brushes, 
etc.,  that  are  used  and  which  can  be  obtained  by 
carefully  following  the  method  described  below. 
The  repair  jobs,  as  a  rule,  are  kept  in  envelopes, 
and,  to  prevent  mistakes,  each  article  is  taken  from 
its  envelope  and  a  brief  description  made  of  it  on  the 
inside  of  the  envelope  flap,  which  will  assist  the  re¬ 
pairer  to  quickly  replace  the  job  when  polished. 
When  sealed  the  brief  description  will  be  covered 
and  a  nice,  clean  envelope  can  be  presented  to  the 
customer.  Then  cover  the  lathe  bed  with  a  news- 
Daper  to  catch  all  polishing  dirt,  tripoli,  rouge,  etc., 
and  to  one  side  the  jobs  can  be  sorted  into  several 
piles  in  the  order  of  their  needs.  For  instance,  rings 
which  have  been  stretched,  pieced  or  soldered  arc 
placed  in  the  first  pile.  Brooches,  spectacles,  etc., 
that  have  been  soldered  or  had  new  pintongues  at' 


78  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


tached  are  laid  on  the  second  pile,  and  articles  as 
rings,  pins,  watch  cases,  etc.,  which  need  polishing 
are  placed  on  the  third  pile. 

Before  doing  any  polishing  on  the  lathe  Tiffany 
ring  mountings  should  be  polished  between  the 
prongs  and  through  the  hole  at  the  base  of  the  stone 
by  drawing  the  setting  back  and  forth  on  a  rouged 
chamois  strip.  Likewise  it  is  advisable  co  recolor 
the  insides  or  backs  of  cluster  rings,  etc.,  which  had 
the  original  color  ruined  in  the  soldering.  This 
done,  the  polisher  is  ready  to  proceed.  Place  the 
tapering  felt  buff  on  the  lathe  and  give  it  a  light 
coating  of  the  tripoli  composition,  and  take  the 
rings  of  the  first  pile  and,  holding  each  between 
the  forefinger  and  thumb  of  the  right  hand,  rub 
back  and  forth  on  the  buff  until  all  file  marks  and 
scratches  are  removed.  Then  join  the  first  and 
second  piles  and  proceed  to  tripoli  brush  the  pickle 
coated  or  filed  surfaces  until  smooth.  Avoid  round¬ 
ing  edges  of  the  work.  In  this  connection  it  is  ad¬ 
visable  to  use  black  bristle  brushes,  as,  from  our  ex¬ 
perience,  it  is  found  that  they  are  tougher  and  last 
considerably  longer  than  those  made  from  white 
bristles.  When  the  surfaces  have  been  thoroughly 
brushed  in  two  or  more  directions  and  are  smooth 
proceed  to  wash  off  all  tripoli  and  dirt,  as  otherwise 
this  would  prevent  the  articles  taking  a  high  polish. 
Benzine  is  the  best  preparation  for  removing  tripoli 
that  has  yet  come  to  our  notice.  When  all  the  ar¬ 
ticles  that  were  tripolied  are  dried  in  the  sawdust 
or  by  means  of  tissue  paper  or  a  towel,  separate  the 
rings  to  make  one  pile  and  all  of  the  other  articles 
will  constitute  the  second  pile. 

The  rings  of  the  first  pile  are  rouged  on  the  inside 
rouge  buff  in  the  same  manner  in  which  they  were 
tripolied.  Be  very  careful  not  to  allow  the  rouge 
and  tripoli  brushes,  buffs,  etc.,  to  become  mixed : 
otherwise  there  would  be  trouble.  Then  brush  all 


REPAIRING  STUD  SPIRALS. 


70 


the  articles  with  the  bristle  brushes  to  which  the 
cake  of  rouge  has  been  applied  and  finally  finish 
them  on  the  canton  flannel  or  cotton  wheel  buffs. 
After  washing  the  articles  with  soap,  ammonia  and 
warm  water,  dry  them  in  warm  boxwood  sawdust. 
Diamonds  should  be  dipped  into  alcohol  to  remove 
all  grease  before  they  are  dried  in  the  sawdust.  The 
dry  buff — usually  canton  flannel — is  used  for  dry 
buffing,  without  the  use  of  rouge,  all  silver  pieces, 
as  bonbon  dishes,  etc.  The  articles  that  were 
brushed  or  cleaned  with  the  brass  or  steel  wire 
brushes  should  be  brushed  briskly  with  baking  soda 
to  impart  a  nice  luster  to  the  work. 

Stud  Spirals  to  Repair. — When  stud  spirals  are 
broken  off  at  the  setting  it  is  advisable  to  anti-oxi- 
dize  both  parts.  Then  clean  the  surfaces  to  be 
united ;  borax  and  lay  on  the  solder.  Place  the  set¬ 
ting  on  a  piece  of  charcoal  and  hold  the  spiral  with 
a  pair  of  tweezers  in  the  left  hand.  Great  care  must 
be  taken  in  soldering  so  that  the  setting  or  spiral 
is  not  melted  or  burned.  When  the  stud  is  broken 
in  the  curve  of  the  spiral  anneal  and  straighten  it. 
When  soldered,  smooth  it  nicely  with  a  fine  file  and 
polish.  After  this  it  should  be  bent  perpendicularly 
at  a  distance  of  3-16  of  an  inch  from  the  setting. 
Then  the  spiral  wire  is  placed  into  the  spiral  turner 
groove  and  the  fastening  pin  inserted.  When  it  is 
seen  that  the  setting  would  be  in  the  middle  of  the 
spiral  or  circle,  grasp  the  end  of  the  wire  in  a  pair 
of  pliers  held  in  the  left  hand  and  turn  the  spiral 
turner  away  from  the  body  with  the  right  hand. 
When  spirals  are  “sprung”  or  pulled  out  of  shape, 
draw  the  coils  together  and  bind  in  three  or  four 
places  with  strong  or  doubled  binding  wire.  When 
drawn  into  the  proper  shape  anti-oxidize  the  spiral 
and  heat  to  redness  with  the  blow-pipe  or  over  an 
alcohol  flame.  After  cooling,  the  wire  should  be 
removed  and  the  stud  boiled  in  the  acid  pickle. 


80  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


Stone  Setting. — In  connection  with  this  brief  des¬ 
cription  of  stone  setting  it  is  desirable  that  the  re¬ 
pairer  examine  every  piece  of  nice  work  of  this  kind 
that  comes  his  way.  Very  few  tools  are  needed  for 
setting  and  resetting  stones,  and  these  are:  A  ring 
clamp,  for  holding  rings ;  a  cement  stick  for  holding 
earring  and  stud  settings;  a  fine  barrette  needle  file; 
a  fine  barrette  file  (larger  size)  ;  a  shad  belly  graver, 
No.  4;  a  flat  graver,  No.  41;  one-half  dozen  pearl 
drills,  assorted  sizes,  which  can  be  obtained  from 
any  material  dealer  and  are  used  in  the  drill  pump ; 
two  or  three  beading  tools  of  small  size.  The  shad 
belly  graver  is  ground  back  on  the  left  side  so  as  to 
form  an  angle  of  about  45  degrees.  This  tool  is 
used  for  cutting  the  bearing  in  the  settings.  With 
these  tools  the  repairer  is  able  to  set  or  reset  almost 
any  stone  which  may  be  brought  to  him. 

As  very  many  stores  carry  an  assortment  of  Tif¬ 
fany  and  belcher  diamond  mountings  for  mounting 
loose  stones,  we  will  briefly  describe  how  stones  are 
set  in  rings  of  this  kind.  The  first  thing  necessary 
is  to  see  that  the  mounting  is  the  right  size  for  the 
stone ;  that  is,  the  outer  edge  or  girdle  of  the  stone 
should  cover  about  one-half  of  the  tops  of  the 
prongs  when  placed  on  the  setting.  This  is  a  pretty 
good  rule  to  follow  with  Tiffany  and  belcher  mount¬ 
ings,  because  if  the  prongs  were  bent  inward  the 
gold  or  base  of  the  setting  would  show  considerably 
all  about  the  stone,  and  if  the  prongs  were  bent  out¬ 
ward  the  effect  would  be  equally  as  bad,  if  not  worse. 
Care,  also,  should  be  taken  that  the  top  of  the  set¬ 
ting  is  perfectly  straight,  for  if  this  defect  is  not 
remedied  the  stone,  when  set,  would  be  found  to  be 
crooked.  This  will  be  understood  if  one  will  hold 
a  mounted  stone  up  before  him  and  see  whether  or 
not  the  table  of  the  stone  is  or  is  not  at  right  angles 
with  imaginary  lines  drawn  from  the  bottom  of  the 
ring.  If  the  surface  of  the  table,  on  all  sides,  does 


STONE  SETTING. 


81 


not  form  a  right  angle  with  the  lines  the  stone  is 
set  crooked  and  the  job  is  not  creditable  to  the 
workman.  Thus  it  can  be  readily  seen  that  the  set¬ 
ting  should  be  perfectly  straight  before  attempting 
to  set  any  stone.  If  stones  are  uneven  or  are  cut 
crooked,  allowance  is  made  when  cutting  the  bear¬ 
ing  in  the  setting  so  that  one  side  would  be  cut 
deeper  than  the  other.  A  great  deal  depends  upon 
the  skill  and  judgment  of  the  setter. 

After  the  setting  has  been  straightened  the  setter 
opens  or  closes  the  setting,  if  necessary,  to  suit  the 
stone.  This  can  easily  be  done  with  the  pointed 
flat  pliers  in  the  Tiffany  mountings,  but  very 
little,  if  any,  bending  can  be  done  on  belcher 
mountings.  Hence  the  importance  of  seeing  that 
the  stone  and  the  mounting  are  of  a  corre¬ 
sponding  size.  When  the  setting  is  the  right 

size  the  setter  prepares  the  bearing  or  bed  of 

the  stone  by  cutting  out  about  one-half  of 

the  thickness  of  the  prongs  to  the  depth  of  one 
millimeter.  This  is  done  either  with  the  shad  belly 
graver  described  above  or  with  the  needle  barrette 
file.  Many  workmen  use  the  graver  exclusively, 
but,  wherever  the  file  can  be  used,  it  is  advisable 
to  do  so,  as  the  work  can  be  done  much  more  rapid¬ 
ly  and  easily.  When  all  the  prongs  have  been  cut 
in  this  manner,  see  that  the  stone  fits  into  the  berth 
thus  prepared,.  If  it  does  not,  remove  it  and  cut 
away  the  gold  that  prevents  it  from  fitting  into  the 
setting.  Care,  however,  should  be  taken  that  too 
much  of  the  prongs  is  not  cut  away,  as  this  would 
weaken  them.  Very  often  this  impediment  can  be 
removed  by  slightly  bending  one  or  more  prongs 
with  the  pointed  flat  pliers. 

When  the  setting  is  cut  so  that  the  stone  fits  in 
between  the  prongs,  proceed  to  cut  away  the  sharp 
angle  underneath  the  stone  to  correspond  to  the  un¬ 
der  slope  of  the  stone.  The  fiat  graver  is  used  for 


82  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


this  work.  When  this  is  done,  fit  the  stone  into  the 
setting  and  if  it  is  straight  and  rests  securely  and 
evenly  without  unduly  pressing  against  one  or 
more  of  the  prongs — which  would  cause  the  stone  to 
“rock”  when  touched  on  the  table  with  a  pair  of 
tweezers — the  prongs  are  ready  to  be  bent  over  the 
stone.  If,  however,  the  stone  should  “rock,”  cut 
away  the  slope  where  the  stone  presses  the  most 
and  refit.  If  this  were  not  done  there  would  be 
danger  of  chipping  the  stone  when  the  prong  was 
bent  over  it.  Before  bending  the  gold  over  the 
stone  remove  the  latter  and  file  the  sides  of  the 
prongs,  at  the  tops,  to  a  point  so  as  to  form  a  tri¬ 
angle  whose  base  would  be  about  one  millimeter 
from  the  top.  Then  file  the  outside  face  of  the  tri¬ 
angle  so  that  the  top  would  be  thin  while  the  base 
would  retain  its  original  thickness.  The  top  of  the 
prong,  when  filed  in  this  manner,  will  look  like  a 
right  angled  triangle  when  viewed  from  the  side. 
Many  setters  do  not  prepare  the  setting  in  this  man¬ 
ner  when  setting  stones,  but  for  the  repairer  who 
must  do  repairing,  stone  setting,  etc.,  it  is  advisable 
to  follow  this  method,  as  very  little  filing  need  be 
done  after  the  prong  is  bent  over  and  the  bright  cut¬ 
ting  will  be  easier  to  cut  even  and  straight. 

The  stone  is  now  placed  into  the  setting  and,  by 
holding  it  in  position  with  the  forefinger  of  the  left 
hand,  proceed  to  push  over  the  prong  opposite  to  the 
finger.  The  greatest  pressure  is  applied  to  the  low¬ 
er  portion  of  the  slope  or  bent  part  so  that  the 
prong  will  rest  snugly  upon  the  stone.  Be  particu¬ 
lar  that  the  part  that  is  bent  over  the  stone  is  not 
curved  in  the  middle,  in  which  case  the  gold  at  the 
girdle  of  the  stone  and  at  the  point  of  the  prong 
only  would  touch  the  stone.  This  should  not  be,  as 
all  the  gold  above  the  girdle  should  rest  upon  the 
stone.  When  the  first  prong  has  been  bent  over  the 
stone,  remove  the  finger  and  bend  over  the  prong 


STONE  SETTING. 


83 


opposite  to  the  first  one  that  was  pressed  over.  Now 
if  the  table  is  perfectly  level  and  the  stone  does  not 
“rock,”  bend  over  all  the  prongs.  If  all  is  not  right, 
remedy  the  trouble  before  going  any  farther.  After 
all  the  prongs  are  bent  over,  the  “bent  over”  parts 
are  finished  by  bright  cutting.  With  a  polished  flat 
graver  which  has  been  rubbed  dead  flat  on  the  under 
size  and  then  polished  on  a  boxwood  diamantine  or 
crocus  paper  block,  start  at  the  top  or  point  of  the 
prong  and  cut  a  beveled  edge  in  one  continuous  cut. 
Then  cut  the  other  size  in  the  same  manner  and 
finally  with  one  cut  brighten  the  face  of  the  clamp. 
This  done  on  all  prongs,  see  that  all  the  points  are 
pressed  down  tightly  upon  the  stone. 

The  above  description  will  apply  to  all  prong  set¬ 
tings.  The  ring  clamp  is  used  for  holding  all  rings 
in  which  stones  are  to  be  set,  but  earring  and  stud 
settings  are  held  by  cementing  them  onto  a  cement 
stick.  Before  doing  this,  dip  a  small  camel’s  hair 
brush  into  oil  and  brush  the  parts  which  the  cement 
will  cover.  By  so  doing  the  cement  can  be  very 
easily  removed  after  the  stones  are  set. 

Turquoise,  half  pearls  and  opals  should  have  the 
settings  prepared  as  described  above,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  that  the  under  slope  should  be  cut  away  very 
little.  Whole  pearls  and  moonstone  ball  settings  are 
prepared  by  gouging  out  the  gold  from  the  inner 
surface  of  the  prong  to  correspond  to  the  curvature 
of  the  gem.  Great  care  must  be  exercised  while 
bright  cutting  the  prongs  on  pearl  mountings  so 
that  the  pearl  is  not  scratched  or  injured  in  any 
way.  Stones  set  in  Gypsy  and  other  mountings 
have  the  gold  hammered  over  them  or  they  are  held 
in  position  by  little  beads  which  are  forced  up  over 
them.  Care  must  be  taken  with  both  methods  so 
that  the  stone  is  not  chipped  or  broken. 

In  brooches,  lockets,  etc.,  the  half  pearl  and  tur¬ 
quoise  settings  are  made  by  centering  and  drilling 


84  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


a  hollow  the  size  required,  by  means  of  a  pearl  drill. 
Then  the  number  of  beads,  usually  five,  are  marked 
off  and  the  star  or  other  ornament  cut  almost  to  the 
edge  of  the  hollow.  As  the  cutting  proceeds  the 
graver  is  allowed  to  pass  to  the  side  of  the  bead  so 
as  to  make  a  continuous  bright  cut  from  the  point 
to  the  stone.  After  this  is  done,  the  stone  is  placed 
into  the  hollow  and  the  beads  worked  over  it  with 
the  beading  tools.  This  is  done  by  fastening  the 
tool  in  a  graver  handle,  so  that  it  may  be  placed  on 
to  the  bead  so  as  to  slope  away  from  the  stone,  after 
which,  by  giving  it  a  rolling,  rocking  motion,  the 
head  is  worked  upward  and  over  the  stone.  Genu¬ 
ine  whole  pearls  are  fastened  on  pegs  with  gum 
mastic.  Carbuncles  and  stones  cut  cn  cabochon  are 
burnished  into  the  settings  with  a  burnisher  or  with 
the  Hat  graver. 

In  connection  with  this  description  of  stone  set¬ 
ting  the  following  diamond  table  will  be  found  use¬ 
ful  when  ordering  mountings  for  stones  and  also  to 
find  the  approximate  weight  of  mounted  stones : 


Diameter 

Mm. 


Weight  Diameter 
Kt.  Mm. 


Weight 

Kt. 


I  . 

.  Vet 

7 

ij4  . 

. v„ 

754 

2 

.  Vie 

8 

3  . 

.  X 

814 

3^4  . 

.  M 

834 

4  . 

.  x 

m 

4^  . 

.  34 

034 

4  H  . 

.  x 

9  34 

5  . 

.  H 

10 

5J4  . 

.  X 

1034 

6  . 

.  T 

ioj4 

. 

.  1 44 

1034 

6J4  . 

.  134 

1 1 

1  $4 

2 

2j4 

2J4 

3 

3/4 

3/2 

4 

414 

4/2 

4.)4 

5 


The  “table”  referred  to  in  this  description  is  the 
fiat  top  or  top  surface  of  the  stone.  In  a  perfectly 


ROMAN  COLORING. 


85 


cut  stone  this  “table”  should  measure  2-5  of  the 
diameter  of  the  stone.  The  “girdle”  is  the  edge 
which  fits  into  the  setting  and  should,  in  a  perfectly 
cut  stone,  be  one-third  of  the  distance  from  the 
table  to  the  lower  flat  surface  of  the  stone.  The  part 
between  the  table  and  girdle  is  the  crown.  Below 
the  “girdle”  is  the  "collet,”  which  extends  down 
to  the  “culet,”  or  lower  table  of  the  stone. 
The  latter  is  equal  to  one-sixth  the  diameter 
of  the  “table.”  The  number  of  facets  on  a  perfectly 
cut  diamond  is  56,  but  sometimes  the  number  is  64. 

Roman  Coloring. — The  beautiful  finish  known  as 
Roman  gold  is  obtained  in  various  ways.  The  old¬ 
er  methods  known  as  the  dry  and  wet  coloring  pro¬ 
cesses  were  much  employed  for  coloring  new  work, 
and,  as  the  articles  were  immersed  in  the  solutions, 
the  acids,  etc.,  dissolved  the  baser  metals  on  the 
surface  and  left  the  gold  in  a  pure  state.  These 
methods  cannot  be  employed  in  the  repair  shop  be¬ 
cause  most  articles. are  not  able  to  undergo  the  dis¬ 
solving  process  more  than  once  or  so.  If  this  should 
be  done,  the  articles  would  become  honey-combed 
and  liable  to  break  with  the  least  pressure. 

For  repairing  purposes,  Roman  coloring  is  done 
by  the  electrical  process — just  the  reverse  of  the 
former,  for  in  that  case  the  alloy  was  dissolved  from 
the  article  to  be  colored,  while  by  this  method  the 
gold  is  dissolved  from  the  anode  and  deposited  in 
a  uniform  coating  upon  the  article.  The  solutions 
for  this  purpose  are  made  in  several  ways.  The 
easiest  method  is  to  dissolve  three  15-grain  bottles 
of  chloride  of  gold  and  one-half  ounce  of  cyanide  of 
potassium  in  a  pint  of  distilled  water.  Another 
method  is  to  dissolve  the  gold  from  the  anode  di¬ 
rectly  into  the  cyanide  solution.  To  do  this,  dis¬ 
solve  an  ounce  of  cyanide  of  potassium  in  a  quart  of 
distilled  water.  Then  procure  a  porous  cup — a 


86  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


crucible  will  answer — and  nearly  fill  it  with  some 
of  the  cyanide  solution.  The  porous  cup  is  then 
placed  in  the  liquid  in  the  larger  vessel  so  that  the 
two  solutions  are  on  the  same  level,  but  do  not 
come  in  contact.  This  done,  weigh  the  gold  anode 
(a  flattened  gold  coin  is  used  by  many  for  repair 
work)  and,  after  attaching  it  to  the  positive  wire, 
suspend  it  into  the  solution  contained  in  the  larger 
vessel.  Then  attach  a  piece  of  sheet  copper  to  the 
negative  wire  and  suspend  it  into  the  solution  in 
the  porous  cup.  Heat  the  solution  and  allow  the 
current  to  pass  through  it  until  one  and  a  half  or 
two  pennyweights  of  gold  are  dissolved  from  it. 
This  is  determined  by  weighing  the  anode  after  it 
has  been  in  the  solution  for  some  time.  Very  little 
trouble  will  be  experienced  in  making  the  solution, 
but  in  keeping  it  constant,  so  as  to  procure  a  nice 
color  from  day  to  day,  requires  the  watchful  care 
of  the  workman.  As  cyanide  of  potassium  plays  an 
important  part  in  the  solution,  care  must  be  taken 
that  not  too  much  is  added  nor  too  little  allowed 
to  be  in  the  solution.  If  there  is  not  sufficient  held 
in  the  solution,  the  anode  will  become  grayish  and 
dirty,  but  if  there  is  au  excess  of  cyanide  the  anode 
will  become  very  clear  and  bright.  So,  to  keep  the 
solution  in  good  working  order,  it  should  be  kept 
clean  and  the  anode  should  have  the  natural  color 
of  a  piece  of  pure  gold. 

Work  that  is  to  be  Roman-colored  or  gilded  must 
be  absolutely  clean.  Don’t  attempt  to  color  dirty  or 
greasy  articles.  To  clean  work,  brush  it  with  the 
steel  or  brass  wire,  with  a  brush  upon  which  water 
is  allowed  to  drop.  Before  dipping  it  into  the  solu- 
'  tion  wash  it  with  baking  soda  and  ammonia.  Then 
attach  the  article  to  the  negative  wire  of  the  bat¬ 
tery  and  immerse  it  into  the  solution.  A  short  time 
only  is  required  to  give  the  article  a  dull  yellow 
color,  which,  when  brushed  with  the  moistened 


ROMAN  COLORING. 


87 


brass  brush  becomes  the  Roman  color.  But  this  is 
easier  said  than  done,  for  the  workman  often  must 
manipulate  the  solution,  etc.,  to  obtain  good  results. 
The  articles  will  receive  a  nicer  coating  if  they  are 
kept  in  motion  in  the  solution,  which  should  be 
heated  until  the  water  in  the  surrounding  vessel 
reaches  the  boiling  point.  Better  results  are  ob¬ 
tained  by  keeping  the  anode  and  cathode  separated 
as  much  as  possible.  In  the  case  of  large  articles, 
the  anode  should  be  held  deep  in  the  solution,  but 
for  small  objects  it  is  advisable  to  immerse  only  one- 
quarter  to  one-half  of  it  to  obtain  a  nice  color.  In 
finishing,  the  brushing  should  be  done  as  lightly  as 
possible,  to  avoid  giving  the  work  a  brassy  appear¬ 
ance.  Then  wash  the  articles  with  ammonia  and 
baking  soda,  and  dry  them  in  Avarmed  boxwood  saw¬ 
dust.  A  green  gilding  can  be  obtained  by  taking 
some  of  the  Roman  coloring  solution  and  substi¬ 
tuting  a  silver  anode  for  the  gold  one. 

SIMPLE  METHOD  FOR  MAKING  UP  A 
GILDING  SOLUTION. 

To  start  with,  you  must  be  sure  to  follow  instruc¬ 
tions  implicitly.  First,  you  must  have  pure  gold.  Any 
old  piece  of  gold  that  you  have  around  the  shop  will 
not  do,  as,  if  there  is  any  silver  in  the  alloy,  the  silver 
will  take  on  so  much  faster  than  the  gold  that  you  will 
get  a  greenish  color  instead  of  the  clean  yellow  that 
is  so  desirable. 

Then,  you  must  have  clean  receptacles,  and  if  you 
should  use  granite  ware  or  enameled  ware  of  any 
kind,  be  sure  that  there  are  no  checks  or  cracks  in  the 
enamel  where  the  solutions  could  come  in  contact  with 
the  metal,  generally  iron,  base,  as  this  would  ruin  your 
solution  at  once.  Clean  water,  that  has  no  mineral 
content,  distilled,  is  the  best. 

Now,  for  building  the  solution : — Take  6  dwt.  C.  P. 


88  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


Cyanide  of  Potash,  and  8  oz.  of  water.  Place  this  in 
your  enameled  dish  and  heat  to  about  1750  to  200°  F. 
Do  not  let  it  boil. 

Hard  solder  the  piece  of  pure  gold  that  you  are 
going  to  use  as  an  anode  to  a  piece  of  copper  wire, 
one  or  two  feet  long  and  about  one  millimeter  in  diam¬ 
eter,  and  attach  to  the  side  of  your  battery  or  dynamo, 
from  which  the  least  bubbles  are  freed. 

Take  another  piece  of  wire  the  same  size  and  length, 
and  attach  to  the  other  pole  of  the  battery  or  dynamo, 
and  run  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  and  you  will  have 
built  up  a  good  solution  and  are  all  ready  to  put  in 
articles  to  be  colored. 

GREEN  GOLD  PLATING  SOLUTION. 

To  three  parts  of  gold  solution  in  good  working 
order,  add  one  part  silver  solution.  Use  17  K.  Anode 
of  fine  gold,  alloyed  only  with  silver.  This  plates  light 
green.  To  obtain  dark  green,  add  few  grains  of 
powdered  white  arsenic  until  desired  shade  is  obtained. 

ENGLISH  OR  GUINEA  FINISH. 

Put  a  high  polish  on  the  work  to  receive  this  finish. 
Wash  good  and  rinse.  Then  dip  in  a  new  Roman  so¬ 
lution  for  a  few  seconds. 

It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  refinish  old  gold  filled 
jewelry  such  as  chains,  brooches  and  watch  cases, 
which  have  no  intrinsic  value,  but  because  of  some 
sentiment  attached  to  it,  the  customer  desires  the  piece 
put  in  first  class  condition. 

This  can  be  done  by  first  polishing  carefully  and 
boiling  in  a  solution  of  water  with  a  few  drops  of 
ammonia  and  a  pinch  of  soap  added.  Brush  off  any 
dirt  that  remains,  and  rinse  before  placing  in  the  solu¬ 
tion.  Do  not  handle  any  more  than  necessary  after 


ENGLISH  OR  GUINEA  FINISH. 


89 


rinsing.  Give  article  to  be  plated  two  or  three  dips 
of  about  five  minutes  each,  brushing  with  soft  brush 
and  soda  between  dips.  Polish  with  a  soft  wool  buff, 
and  fine  rouge.  Wash  the  article  and  dry  in  sawdust. 

1 2  K.  RED  GOLD  SOLUTION. 

To  a  pint  of  gold  solution,  add  a  teaspoon  of  copper 
trysalt  or  copper  acetate,  and  use  12  K.  anode  alloyed 
only  with  copper. 

BEADED  OR  MILGRAIN  SETTING. 

Lay  out  the  work  so  the  seat  for  the  stone  is  ex¬ 
actly  in  the  center  of  the  plate  in  which  the  stone  is 
to  be  set.  This  is  very  important  as  a  small  difference 
one  way  or  the  other  makes  the  whole  piece  look  out 
of  true. 

Next,  drill  the  hole  for  the  stone  3/10  to  5/10  of 
a  millimeter  smaller  than  the  stone.  The  amount  of 
surplus  left  for  the  seat  depends  on  the  size  of  the 
stone,  about  3/10  millimeter  for  small  stones,  4/10  mil¬ 
limeter  for  medium  stones,  and  5/10  millimeter  for 
large  stones  of  a  carat  or  over. 

Then  ream  the  hole  large  enough  so  that  the  girdle 
of  the  stone  sets  slightly  below  the  surface  of  the  metal. 
Raise  a  bead  in  each  corner  with  a  square  graver. 
Start  this  bead  about  one  millimeter  back  from  the  hole. 
Then  cut  a  groove  with  a  knife  edge  graver  on  each 
side  of  the  bead,  starting  in  the  same  cut  made  by  the 
square  graver  and  cutting  off  to  an  angle  and  depth  of 
450.  After  this  is  done,  bright  cut  the  bevel  between 
the  beads  with  a  flat  graver. 

The  way  to  determine  the  number  of  rows  of  bevels 
to  milgrain  is  to  measure  the  space  left  after  the 
hole  for  the  seat  is  cut,  and  allow  about  one  millimeter 
space  for  each  row  of  milgraining.  Do  not  leave  too 


90  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER'S  HANDBOOK. 


much  space  between  the  rows  of  milgraining  as  this 
will  make  the  job  look  crude  and  rough. 

Now,  with  a  round  bottom  graver  or  a  scraper,  un¬ 
dercut  each  bead  slightly  so  that  the  stone  fits  snugly, 
not  too  loose  or  too  tight.  Inspect  it  carefully  to  see 
that  the  stone  sets  level  all  the  way  round.  If  it  does 
not,  remove  the  stone  and  cut  the  seat  lower  at  the 
point  where  it  was  high. 

After  the  stone  sets  level  press  the  beads  over  the 
stone  with  a  beading  tool  or  purler.  This  is  done  by 
placing  the  beading  tool  on  the  bead,  leaning  the  tool 
away  from  the  stone  at  45  degrees  angle,  and  then 
pressing  firmly  on  the  handle  of  the  tool  and  with  a 
rotary  motion  gradually  bring  the  tool  to  an  upright 
position.  Do  not  force  the  beads  down  too  tightly  at 
first,  as  you  may  have  to  straighten  the  stone  on  one 
side  or  the  other.  Press  one  bead  down  on  one  side, 
then  directly  opposite  tighten  another  and  so  on  until 
all  the  beads  are  over  the  stone  loosely. 

Now,  examine  the  stone  again  to  see  if  it  still  sets 
level.  If  it  does,  go  over  all  the  beads  again  and  tighten 
them  securely,  taking  care  that  your  header  does  not 
slip,  as  this  may  chip  the  stone.  This  done,  go  over 
all  the  bright  cut  bevels  with  a  highly  polished  flat 
graver  and  trim  ofif  any  surplus  metal  that  may  still  be 
left  around  the  bead.  Good  results  are  obtained  on 
this  last  bright  cutting  by  using  a  little  oil  on  the  point 
of  the  graver  when  cutting  gold,  a  little  turpentine  for 
white  gold,  and  a  little  oil  of  wintergreen  for  platinum. 

Next,  take  the  job  to  the  polishing  lathe,  and  with  a 
very  short  single  or  two  row  bristle  brush,  polish  the 
bright  cuts  around  the  stone  very  lightly  with  tripoli, 
and  then  with  rouge.  The  bristles  on  these  brushes 
should  not  be  over  one-fourth  inch  long. 

Wash  the  job  and  milgrain  the  edges  of  the  bevels. 
Rouge  the  whole  job  and  wash  again. 

To  determine  whether  or  not  the  stone  is  set  tightly, 


BEADED  OR  MILGRAIN  SETTING. 


91 


take  a  soft  pointed  stick,  such  as  a  match  or  piece  of 
pegwood,  and  try  to  push  the  stone  out  from  the  under 
side.  Do  not  use  a  piece  of  metal  for  this  as  it  is  apt  to 
chip  the  stone.  If  this  does  not  loosen  the  stone,  try 
pushing  on  the  table  and  crown  of  the  stone.  If  this 
does  not  loosen  it,  you  may  rest  assured  that  it  is  set 
securely. 


HAND  PAINTING  ON  ARTIFICIAL  IVORY. 

COLOR  SCHEMES. 

In  painting  colored  letters  or  monograms,  the  color 
scheme  is  of  great  importance,  for  no  matter  how 
neatly  you  may  have  the  letter  designed,  if  the  color 
scheme  is  not  right  your  work  will  be  in  vain.  A  good 
rule  to  follow  is  that  two  shades  of  the  same  color  are 
always  good  taste :  then  again,  such  combinations  as 
black  and  gold,  purple  and  gold  or  silver  are  always  in 
harmony.  If  two  colors  are  desired,  choose  a  bright 
and  a  somber  color,  such  as  blue  and  brown,  green 
and  gray,  crimson  and  black.  These  will  be  found  to 
give  pleasing  contrasts  and  will  not  jar  like  mixtures 
of  purple  and  orange  or  blue  and  yellow.  When  using 
two  colors  always  see  that  they  are  in  harmony  and 
do  not  clash.  If  in  doubt  as  to  a  combination  try  it 
out  on  the  piece  of  waste  ivory.  An  effective  letter 
may  be  made  by  painting  a  circle  of  solid  color  on  a 
piece  of  ivory  and  then  engraving  the  letter  through  the 
color,  when  you  will  have  a  white  letter  on  a  dark 
background.  This  method  can  also  be  used  for  border 
and  panel  designs  with  great  effect  and  will  be  of  great 
use  when  ornamenting  ivory  clock  cases  and  photo 
frames. 

The  designer  should  know  something  about  the 
harmony  of  color  and  hence  the  following  table  will 
be  of  use : 

COLORS  THAT  HARMONIZE. 

Scarlet,  with  blue  and  green ;  Gold  or  yellow,  with 
blue  or  green ;  Violet  with  green  or  yellow — bright 
green ;  Blue  with  yellow  or  red ;  Carmine  with  green 
or  orange ;  Brown  with  blue  or  red ;  Wine  with  yellow 
or  green;  Rose  with  light  blue  or  yellow;  Neutral  tint 
with  red  or  yellow ;  Orange  with  violet  or  blue ;  Blue 
gray  with  buff  or  pink  ;  Olive  green  with  red  or  orange  ; 
Flesh  with  blue  or  dark  green ;  Dark  green  with 


COLORS  THAT  HARMONIZE. 


93 


crimson  or  orange ;  Light  green  with  rose  or  violet ; 
Light  brown  with  bine  or  green. 

RULES  FOR  MIXING  AND  BLENDING  COLORS. 

Rose — diluted  magenta  ;  Brick  red — brown  and 
magenta ;  Golden  brown — yellow  and  violet ;  Seal 
brown — yellow  and  violet ;  Reddish  brown — brown  and 
pink ;  Dark  reddish  brown — brown  and  red ;  Wine — 
purple  and  magenta ;  Royal  purple — magenta  and  light 
blue;  French  red — magenta  and  flesh;  Navy  blue — 
purple  and  blue  ;  Indigo  blue — violet  and  blue  ;  Plum — 
magenta  and  blue ;  Drab — yellow  and  purple ;  Myrtle 
green — blue  and  green  ;  Landscape  green — blue  and 
yellow ;  Olive  green — blue  and  yellow  ;  Bottle  green  ; 
— green  and  blue ;  Light  green — yellow  and  green ; 
Dark  green — blue  and  green  ;  Foliage  green — green 
and  violet ;  Mauve — blue  and  pink  ;  Crimson — black 
and  red  ;  Crimson — red  and  blue  ;  Bronze — brown  and 
blue ;  Lavender — pink  and  blue  ;  Garnet — red  and 
green ;  Old  gold — brown  and  yellow ;  Terra  Cotta — 
pink  and  brown  ;  Maroon — red  and  brown  ;  Salmon — - 
orange  and  red  ;  Orange — red  and  yellow  ;  Gray — black 
and  white. 

ORNAMENTED  WITH  ARTIFICIAL  JEWELS, 
MOTHER-OF-PEARL,  ETC. 

Ornamenting  with  jewels  and  pearls  is  another  way 
of  decorating  ivory  which  is  becoming  very  popular. 
These  stones  may  be  obtained  from  any  dealer  in  jewel¬ 
ers’  material. 

The  white  foil  backs  may  be  set  in  any  color  of  a 
background  but  the  colored  stones  must  be  set  in  a 
background  of  the  same  color. 

To  make  a  design  with  artificial  stones  in  it,  proceed 
as  follows :  First,  lay  out  the  design  as  already  de- 


94  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


scribed  and  outline  it  with  the  graver.  Then  paint  the 
colors  in  good  solid  coats  and  make  the  outlines,  either 
gold  or  silver,  sufficiently  bold  to  stand  up.  When  this 
is  all  dry  and  hard,  and  not  before ,  the  holes  may  be 
drilled  for  the  stones.  For  this  purpose,  you  will  re¬ 
quire  a  pearl  drill  for  flat  bottom  stones,  and  an  ordi¬ 
nary  drill  for  gem  cut  stones,  of  the  size  of  the  hole 
required  to  hold  the  stone.  This  is  important,  as  the 
stones  must  fit  snug  or  else  they  will  not  stay  in.  To 
fasten  the  stones,  use  celluloid  cement,  dropping  it  in 
the  hole  by  means  of  a  pointed  stick,  press  the  stone 
down  good,  and  allow  two  hours  or  more  to  dry. 

Abalone  pearl  is  also  used  and  if  the  thin  cut  is  used, 
it  may  be  cemented  on  the  surface  without  cutting  the 
ivory,  while  for  jet  and  coral  the  ivory  is  required  to 
be  cut  out  to  hold  it.  Artistic  effects  may  be  had  with 
small  shell  cameos,  also  coral  cameos.  These  are  very 
effective  if  inlaid  on  hair  ornaments  such  as  combs  and 
barrettes,  also  frames  for  hand  bags  and  umbrella 
handles.  Beautiful  raised  effects  may  be  had  by  pierc¬ 
ing  out  a  design  and  then  cementing  it  on  to  the  article 
to  be  decorated.  This  method  can  be  used  on  toilet 
sets,  jewel  boxes,  etc.,  with  admirable  results.  Photo 
frames  and  clock  cases  may  be  made  very  pretty  by 
simply  washing  over  with  large  brushfuls  of  color 
blended  into  each  other.  In  doing  this,  you  may  use 
all  the  colors  in  the  box. 

FORMULA  FOR  CELLULOID  CEMENT. 

Cut  into  small  pieces  some  transparent  celluloid. 
Place  in  a  bottle  and  add  equal  parts  of  amyl  acetate 
or  c.  p.  acetone. 

Another,  and  in  many  cases,  the  best  formula : — 
Glacial  Acetic  Acid — one  part,  Acetone — three  parts, 
Alcohol — three  parts.  Moisten  the  surfaces  to  be 
united  with  above  solution  and  when  the  surfaces  be¬ 
come  slightly  soft,  place  in  contact  with  each  other  and 


FORMULA  FOR  CELLULOID  CEMENT.  95 


clamp  with  slight  pressure,  or  bind  with  cord.  Let 
stand  forty-eight  hours. 

For  the  colors  used  in  ivory  or  celluloid  paints,  use 
the  regular  aniline  dyes  that  are  soluble  in  alcohol,  dis¬ 
solved  in  pure  acetone.  Do  not  get  your  colors  too 
strong.  If  the  color  is  not  deep  enough  with  the  first 
coating,  you  can  put  on  a  second  or  third  coating,  and 
in  this  way  get  the  desired  shade.  Whereas,  if  you 
get  it  too  dark,  it  cannot  be  remedied  only  by  scraping 
out,  and  the  scraping  out  process  ruins  the  surface. 

Be  sure  that  your  aniline  dyes  are  soluble  in  alcohol, 
and  use  pure  acetone  for  the  solvent.  Some  use  amyl 
acetate. 


DISPOSING  OF  UNCALLED  FOR  REPAIR 

WORK. 

Many  jewelers  have  a  large  amount  of  repair 
work  on  hand  that  has  been  brought  in  and,  al¬ 
though  wanted  within  a  few  days,  has  never  been 
called  for.  This  causes  the  jeweler  considerable  an¬ 
noyance,  for  aside  from  the  space  occupied  by  the 
jobs  and  the  trouble  of  examining  them  every  time 
another  job  is  called  for,  he  has  a  considerable 
amount  invested  in  their  repairing  on  which  he  can¬ 
not  realize. 

The  question  has  often  been  asked :  How  one  is 
to  place  these  articles  into  the  possession  of  the  own¬ 
ers  and  secure  the  cost  of  repairs?  This  is  easily 
done  if  the  jeweler  will  adopt  and  maintain  a  system 
by  which  each  envelope  containing  a  job  will  be 
marked  with  the  instructions  for  the  repairer :  the 
owner’s  name  and  address  and  the  date  when  re¬ 
ceived  and  when  promised. 

Most  jewelers  use  repair  envelopes  that  have 
marked  spaces  for  these  items,  but  for  some  reasons, 
such  as  haste,  hesitancy  in  asking  names,  etc.,  the 
filling  out  is  not  done,  and,  as  a  result,  if  the  articles 
are  not  called  for,  they  can  hardly  be  sent  to  the 
owners  or  the  owners  reminded  of  them. 

After  the  repairer  has  finished  the  repairs  the  ar¬ 
ticle  should  be  replaced  in  the  envelope,  which 
should  be  carefully  sealed  and  the  cost  of  repairs 
marked  on  the  outside. 

A  drawer  containing  a  compartment  for  each  let¬ 
ter  of  the  alphabet  can  be  used  for  storing  all  jobs 
until  called  for.  At  the  end  of  each  month  the  jew¬ 
eler  should  send  a  postal  card,  of  which  the  accom¬ 
panying  is  a  specimen,  to  each  person  whose  job  has 
been  in  the  store  a  month  or  more.  If  at  the  end  of 
another  month  the  owner  does  not  call,  another  pos- 


UNCALLED  FOR  REPAIR  WORK. 


97 


FORM  FOR  POSTAL  CARD. 


98  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK. 


tal  should  be  sent,  which  usually  will  have  the  de¬ 
sired  effect. 

At  the  end  of  one  year  another  postal  should  be. 


An 

Announcement 

To  Our  Patrons 


TYT  E  have  concluded  an  in- 
vv  ventory  of  our  stock  and 
find  a  number  of  pieces  of  jew¬ 
elry,  that  have  been  left  here  for 
repairs,  which  have  never  been 
called  for. 

As  we  desire  to  make  room 
for  new  goods,  and  thinking  that 
many  of  these  articles  have  been 
forgotten,  we  take  this  means  of 
recalling  them  to  memory. 

An  early  call  by  the  owners 
of  these  articles  will  be  appreci¬ 
ated  by 

J.  B.  Samson 

322  E.  Orange  St. 


FORM  FOR  NEWSPAPER  ADVERTISEMENT. 

sent  to  those  persons  whose  jobs  have  remained  in 
the  store  for  a  year  or  more,  reminding  them  of  the 
articles  and  stating  that  the  repairer  cannot  be  held 


UNCALLED  FOR  REPAIR  WORK. 


99 


responsible  for  articles  remaining  for  more  than  one 
year.  But  this  will  hardly  be  necessary,  as  the 
other  postal  cards  will  usually  accomplish  the  de¬ 
sired  result. 

If  a  newspaper  announcement  is  desired,  which 
we  would  advise  immediately  after  taking  an  inven¬ 
tory  of  the  stock,  the  accompanying  can  be  used. 


INDEX  TO  THE  CONTENTS 


A 

Acids  for  testing  gold . 18 

B 

Band  rings . 47 

Belcher  rings. — To  repair . 56 

Bench. — Size  and  parts  of  work .  7 

Bezel.— Repairing  watch  case . 55 

Bifocal  lenses. — To  clean . 36 

Bonnet  brushes. — To  repair . 54 

Bows. — Refilling  watch . 56 

Bracelet  locks. — To  repair . 72 

Bracelets. — To  make  a  Nethersole,  smaller . 54 

To  repair . 53 

Braid  or  hair  chains. — To  repair . 52 

Brushes. — To  fit  tooth . 74 

To  repair  bonnet . 54 

Buckles. — To  repair . 53 

Buttons. — To  repair  cuff . 52 

C 

Casts. — To  make . 63 

Chains. — To  repair . 57 

To  repair  braid  or  hair . 52 

To  repair  silver  fox-tail .  .  .  .57 

Charms. — To  repair . 58 

Chemicals  needed  by  a  jobbing  jeweler . 12 

Cleaning  bifocal  lenses . 36 

Filigree  work . 67 

Combs. — To  repair . 62 

Cornets. — To  repair . 61 

Cuff  buttons. — To  repair  . 52 


INDEX  TO  THE  CONTENTS  101 

D 

Diamond  table  of  sizes  and  weights,  old  method . 84 

Drilling  hole  in  eyeglass  lens . 35 

Disposing  of  uncalled-for  repair  work . 88 

E 

Earrings. — To  repair . 64 

Engravers’  impressions. — How  to  make . . . 71 

Engraving. — To  remove . 65 

F 

Fans. — Repairing . 73 

Ferrules. — To  make . 68 

Filigree  work. — To  clean  . 67 

Filings. — How  to  save .  7 

To  reduce . 69 

Fitting  tooth  brushes . 74 

Fluxes . 66 

Fobs. — To  repair . 68 

Fountain  pens. — To  repair . 67 

G 

Gallery  settings. — New . 50 

Gilding.— Or  Roman  coloring . 85 

To  remove . 73 

H 

Hair  or  braid  chains.— To  repair . 52 

I 

Impressions. — How  to  make . 71 

Initial  rings. — Repairing . 51 

Inkstand  tops. — To  remove . 74 

Isinglass. — Uses  of .  74 

J 

Jewelry  repairing . 38 

Jump  rings. — To  make . 71 

L 

Lenses. — To  clean  bifocal . 36 

To  drill  holes  in . •. . 35 

Locks. — To  repair  bracelet . 72 


102 


INDEX  TO  THE  CONTENTS 


M 

Making  casts . 63 

Ferrules . 68 

Jump  rings . 71 

Mercury. — To  remove . 72 

Mirror  backs. — To  wash . 72 

Mosaic  pins. — To  repair . 72 

N 

Nethersole  bracelet  smaller. — To  make  a . 54 

Novelties. — To  repair  silver . 55 

Nuts. — To  tighten . 72 

P 

Pin  Stem. — To  make  a . 39 

Pin  tongue. — To  repair  a . 38 

Pins. — To  repair  scarf . 41 

To  straighten . 40 

Pintongs. — Twists  in . 42 

Polishing . 74- 

Metallic  lap  for . 76 

Materials  used  for . 75 

Outfit . 77 

R 

Receipt  for  anti-oxidizer . 16 

Blue  remover . 16 

Lens  drilling  fluids . 17 

Oxidizing  solution . 16 

Pickle . 16 

Soft-solder  destroyer . . 17 

Soft-soldering  fluid  . 17 

Solution  for  removing  cement . 18 

Silver  cleanser . 18 

Reducing  filings . 69 

Refilling  watch  bows . 56 

Removing  engravings . 65 

Gilding . 73 

Inkstand  tops . 74 

Mercury . 72 


INDEX  TO  THE  CONTENTS  103 

R — Continued 

Rings. — Initial . 51 

Lining  band . 51 

New  shanks  on . 49 

Repairing  belcher .  56 

Repairing  broken  band . 47 

Repairing  set . 42 

Sizing . 50 

Sizing  of . 48 

The  making  of . 19 

To  make  jump . 71 

To  repair,  broken  at  set . 43 

Repairing. — - 

Belcher  rings . 56 

Bracelet  locks . 72 

Bracelets . 53 

Broken  band  rings . 47 

Buckles . 53 

Chains . 57 

Charms . 58 

Combs . 62 

Cornets . 61 

Cuff  buttons . 52 

Earrings .  64 

Fans . 73 

Fobs . 68 

Fountain  pens . 67 

Frameless  spectacles . 33 

Hair  or  braid  chains . .  .  .  .  . . 52 

Initial  rings . 51 

Jewelry . 38 

Mosaic  pins . 72 

Pin  tongues . 38 

Rings  broken  at  the  set . 43 

Scarf  pins . 41 

Set  rings . .' . 42 

Silver  novelties . 55 

Spectacle  and  eyeglass  frames . 27 

Stud  spirals . 79 

Watch  case  bezel . 55 

Watch  chains . 57 

Roman  coloring . 85 

S 

Scarf  pins.— To  repair . 41 

Set  rings. — Repairing . 42 


104  INDEX  TO  THE  CONTENTS 

S — Continued 

Settings. — Belcher . 80 

New  gallery . 50 

New  prongs  on . 45 

Tiffany . ... . 80 

Shank  on  rings. — New  . 49 

Silver  novelties. — To  repair . 55 

Sizing  rings . 48 

Soda  for  washing  silver  ware . 14 

Spectacle  and  eyeglass  frame  repairing . 27 

Spirals. — To  repair  stud . 79 

Stone  setting . 80 

Stud  spirals.— To  repair . 79 

T 

Table  of  assays . 15 

Table  of  diamond  sizes  and  weights . 84 

Tables  for  gold  and  silver . 15 

Testing  acids . 18 

Tiffany  settings . 80 

Tools  needed .  8 

Tooth  brushes. — To  fit . 74 

Troy  weights . 15 

Twists  in  pintongs . 42 

W 

Washing  mirror  backs . 72 

Watch  bows. — Refilling . 56 

Case  bezel. — To  repair . 55 

Chains. — To  repair . 59 

Hand  Painting  on  Artificial  Ivory .  92 

Color  Schemes .  92 

Colors  That  Harmonize .  92 

Rules  for  Mixing  and  Blending  Colors .  93 

Ornamented  with  Artificial  Jewels,  Mother  of  Pearl, 

etc .  93 

Formula  for  Celluloid  Cement .  94 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK  105 


APPENDIX 


THE  METRIC  CARAT. 


From  Circular  issued  by  Bureau  of  Standards. 

Beginning  July  1,  1913,  the  Bureau  of  Standards  put  into  force 
the  international  metric  carat  of  200  milligrams  as  the  unit  of 
weight  for  diamonds  and  other  precious  stones,  and  will  use  this 
unit  for  purposes  of  certification  of  all  carat  weights  submitted 
to  the  Bureau  for  test.  On  the  same  date  the  Treasury  Depart¬ 
ment  of  the  United  States  Government  also  began  the  use  of  this 
unit  in  the  customs  service  for  the  levying  of  import  duties  on 
precious  stones.  This  unit  was  also  put  into  commercial  use  in 
the  United  States  on  this  date  by  practically  all  the  dealers  in 
gems  and  precious  stones  through  the  efforts  of  a  committee 
representing  all  the  principal  firms  handling  gems. 

Recently  the  movement  for  the  adoption  of  a  uniform  stand¬ 
ard  has  met  with  increasing  success,  and  the  new  carat  of  200 
milligrams  has  been  adopted  by  Spain,  Italy,  Bulgaria,  Denmark, 
Norway,  Japan,  Portugal,  Roumania,  Switzerland,  Sweden, 
France,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Belgium,  while  considerable 
progress  has  been  made  toward  its  adoption  in  England. 

The  carat  which  has  been  in  use  heretofore  in  the  United 
States,  while  varying,  has  been  nearer  the  value  205.3  milligrams 
than  any  other.  This  value  has  therefore  been  taken  in  making 
up  the  tables  of  equivalents  given  in  this  circular.  The  old  carat 
has  usually  been  subdivided  on  the  binary  system,  the  smallest 
subdivision  used  being  usually  one  sixty-fourth  of  the  carat. 
The  equivalents  in  fractions  of  a  carat  in  these  tables  are,  there¬ 
fore,  given  in  sixty-fourths.  One  of  the  improvements  intro¬ 
duced  with  the  new  carat  is  the  subdivision  of  it  on  the  decimal 
system.  The  fractions  of  the  new  carat  in  these  tables  are 
accordingly  given  to  hundredths  of  a  carat. 

Tables  1  and  2  are  for  the  conversion  of  quantities  in  the  old 
unit  to  the  equivalent  weight  in  terms  of  the  new  metric  carat, 
while  Tables  3  and  4  are  for  the  reverse  process  of  converting 
quantities  stated  in  the  new  system  to  old  carats  of  205.3  milli¬ 
grams.  Table  1  is  used  for  the  conversion  of  fractions  of  a  carat, 
while  Table  2  gives  the  equivalent  of  each  unit  or  whole  carat 
from  1  to  100  of  the  old  system  in  metric  carats  and  hundredths 
of  a  carat.  If  it  is  desired  to  convert  whole  carats  and  fractions 
of  a  carat  of  the  old  unit  to  the  new,  the  two  tables  can  be  used  in 
combination;  that  is,  by  adding  the  quantities  obtained  from  each, 


106  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK 


thus:  Suppose  it  is  desired  to  obtain  the  equivalent  of  28  45/64 
old  carats  in  terms  of  the  metric  carats. 


From  Table  1 .  45/64  old  carats  =  0.72  metric  carats 

From  Table  2 . 28  old  carats  =28.74  metric  carats 

Adding . 28  45/64  old  carats  =29.46  metric  carats 


Or,  if  it  is  desired  to  convert  a  larger  quantity  involving  several 
hundred  or  thousand  carats,  one  uses  the  equivalents  in  the  last 
column  of  Table  2  for  each  hundred  and  thousand  of  the  old 
carats  up  to  ten  hundred  and  ten  thousand — thus,  to  convert 
3225f  old  carats  to  metric  carats. 


From  Table  1 .  f  old  carats  =  0.77  metric  carats 

From  Table  2 .  25  old  carats  =  25.66  metric  carats 

200  old  carats  =  205.30  metric  carats 
3000  old  carats  =3079.50  metric  carats 

Adding.  .  .  ,3225|  old  carats  =3311.23  metric  carats 


Table  3,  instead  of  giving  the  equivalent  of  each  0.01  metric 
carat  in  sixty-fourths  of  an  old  carat,  gives  the  limits,  shown  by 
a  brace,  of  the  successive  sixty-fourths  of  the  old  carat,  so  that 
any  decimal  fraction  of  a  metric  carat  is  equivalent  to  the  sixty- 
fourth  of  the  old  carat  shown  opposite  the  limits  between  which 
it  lies,  the  limits  being  given  to  thousandths  of  a  metric  carat. 
Thus,  any  fraction  of  a  metric  carat  between  0.698  and  0.714  is 
equivalent  to  44/64  old  carats,  according  to  Table  3.  In  Table 
4  the  equivalent  of  each  whole  metric  carat  from  1  to  100  is  given 
in  whole  carats  and  sixty  fourths  of  the  old  unit.  For  example, 
to  obtain  the  equivalent  of  58.71  metric  carats  in  old  carats — 


From  Table  3 .  0.71  metric  carats  =  44/64  old  carats 

From  Table  4 . 58  metric  carats  =56  32/64  old  carats 


Adding.  .  .  .58.71  metric  carats  =56  76/64  old  carats 

=57  12/64  old  carats 

Similarily,  if  it  is  desired  to  convert  3974.15  metric  carats  to 
old  carats — 

From  Table  3.  .  .  .  0.15  metric  carats  =  9/64  old  carats 

From  Table  4.  .  .  .  74  metric  carats  =  72  6/64  old  carats 

900  metric  carats  =  876  49/64  old  carats 

3000  metric  carats  =2922  35/64  old  carats 


Adding.  .  .  .3974.15  metric  carats  =3870  99/64  old  carats 

=3871  35/64  old  carats 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK  107 


TABLE  1 

Equivalents  of  fractions  of  the  old  carat  weight  in  new  decimal 

metirc  carats. 

Computed  on  the  basis — 

1  old  carat=205.3  milligrams. 

1  new  metric  carat=200  milligrams 


OLD  CARAT 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

OLD  CARAT 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

CO 

He* 

JO 

CO 

-a 

oo 

16ths 

32nds 

CO 

-a 

T* 

CO 

1  carat 

jo 

CO 

hW 

co 

M 

00 

CO 

J3 

co 

•  rH 

co 

-a 

a 

04 

CO 

64ths 

1 

=0.02 

33 

=0.53 

1 

2 

=  .03 

17 

34 

=  .55 

3 

=  .05 

35 

=  .56 

1 

2 

4 

=  .06 

9 

18 

36 

=  .58 

5 

=  .08 

37 

=  .59 

3 

6 

=  .10 

19 

38 

=  .61 

7 

=  .11 

39 

=  .63 

1 

2 

4 

8 

=  .13 

5 

10 

20 

40 

=  .64 

9 

=  .14 

41 

=  .66 

5 

10 

=  .16 

21 

42 

=  .67 

11 

=  .18 

43 

=  .69 

3 

6 

12 

=  .19 

11 

22 

44 

=  .71 

13 

=  .21 

45 

=  .72 

/ 

14 

—  22 

23 

46 

=  .74 

15 

=  .24 

47 

=  .75 

1 

2 

4 

8 

16 

=  .26 

3 

6 

12 

24 

48 

=  .77 

17 

=  .27 

49 

=  .79 

9 

18 

=  .29 

25 

50 

=  .80 

19 

=  .30 

51 

=  .82 

5 

10 

20 

=  .32 

13 

26 

52 

=  .83 

21 

=  .34 

53 

=  .85 

11 

22 

=  .35 

27 

54 

=  .87 

23 

=  .37 

55 

=  .88 

3 

6 

12 

24 

=  .38 

7 

14 

28 

56 

=  .90 

25 

=  .40 

57 

=  .91 

13 

26 

=  .42 

29 

58 

=  .93 

27 

=  .43 

59 

=  .95 

7 

14 

28 

=  .45 

15 

30 

60 

=  .96 

29 

=  .47 

61 

=  .98 

15 

30 

=  .48 

31 

62 

=  .99 

31 

=  .50 

63 

=1.01 

1 

2 

4 

8 

16 

32 

=  .51 

1 

2 

4 

8 

16 

32 

04 

=1.03 

108  THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK 

TABLE  2 


Equivalents  of  the  old  carats  in  new  decimal  metric  carats. 
Computed  on  the  basis — 

1  old  carat=205.3  milligrams 
1  new  metric  carat=200  milligrams 


Old 

Carats 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

Old 

Carats 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

Old 

Carats 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

Old 

Carats 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

1 

1.03 

31 

31.82 

61 

62.62 

90 

92.38 

2 

2.05 

32 

32.85 

62 

63.64 

91 

93.41 

3 

3.08 

33 

33.87 

63 

64.67 

92 

94.44 

4 

4.11 

34 

34.90 

64 

65.70 

93 

95.46 

5 

5.13 

35 

35.93 

65 

66.72 

94 

96.49 

6 

6.16 

36 

36.95 

66 

67.75 

95 

97.52 

7 

7  19 

37 

37.98 

67 

68.78 

96 

98.54 

8 

8.21 

38 

39.01 

68 

69.80 

97 

99.57 

9 

9.24 

39 

40.03 

69 

70.83 

98 

100.60 

10 

10.26 

40 

41.06 

70 

71.86 

99 

101.62 

11 

11.29 

41 

42.09 

71 

72.88 

100 

102.65 

12 

12.32 

42 

43.11 

72 

73.91 

200 

205.30 

13 

13.34 

43 

44.14 

73 

74.93 

300 

307.95 

14 

14.37 

44 

45.17 

74 

75.96 

400 

410.60 

15 

15.40 

45 

46.19 

75 

76.99 

500 

513.25 

16 

16.42 

46 

47.22 

76 

78.01 

600 

615.90 

17 

17.45 

47 

48.25 

77 

79.04 

700 

718.55 

18 

18.48 

48 

49.27 

78 

80.07 

800 

821.20 

19 

19.50 

49 

50.30 

79 

81.09 

900 

923 . 85 

20 

20.53 

50 

51.32 

80 

82.12 

1000 

1026.50 

21 

21.56 

51 

52.35 

81 

83.15 

2000 

2053 . 00 

22 

22.58 

52 

53.38 

82 

84.17 

3000 

3079.50 

23 

23.61 

53 

54.40 

83 

85.20 

4000 

4106.00 

24 

24.64 

54 

55.43 

84 

86.23 

5000 

5132.50 

25 

25.66 

55 

56.46 

85 

87.25 

6000 

6159.00 

26 

26.69 

56 

57.48 

86 

88.28 

7000 

7185.50 

27 

27.72 

57 

58.51 

87 

89.31 

sooo 

8212.00 

28 

28.74 

58 

59 . 54 

88 

90.33 

9000 

9238.50 

29 

29.77 

59 

60.56 

89 

91.36 

10000 

10265.00 

30 

30.80 

60 

61.59 

THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK  109 


TABLE  3 

Equivalents  of  decimals  of  the  new  metric  carat  in  64ths  of  the  old 
carat.  Computed  on  the  basis — 

1  new  metric  carat=200  milligrams 
1  old  carat=205.3  milligrams 

(All  the  values  between  the  two  connected  by  each  brace  are 
equivalent  to  the  number  of  64ths  of  an  old  carat  given  opposite 
the  brace.) 


New 

Metric 

Carats 

0.008 
0 . 024 
0  ■  04, 
0.056 
0.072 
0.088 
0.104 
0.120 
0.13, 
0.15, 
0.16, 
0.18* 
0 . 200 
0. 217 
0.233 
0.24, 
0.265 


Old 

Carats 


}  1/64 
}  2/64 
}  3/64 
|  4/64 
|  5/64 
}  6/64 
}  7/64 
}  8/64 
}  9/64 
|  10/64 
}  H/64 
|  12/64 
J 13/64 
1 14/64 
]  15/64 
| 16/64 


New 

Metric 

Carats 

0 

265 

0 

28, 

0 

297 

0 

313 

0 

32, 

0 

345 

0 

36, 

0 

37, 

0 

39, 

0 

40, 

0 

425 

0 

44, 

0 

45, 

0 

473 

0 

48, 

0 

505 

0 

52, 

Old 

Carats 


}  17/64 
j 18/64 
|  19/64 
|  20/64 
|  21/64 
j  22/64 
|  23/64 
|  24/64 
J  25/64 
j  26/64 
}  27/64 
J  28/64 
J  29/64 
j  30/64 
j  31/64 
|  32/64 


New 

Metric 

Carats 

0 . 52, 
0 . 537 
0 . 55;j 
0.56, 
0 . 585 
0.60, 
0  ■  618 
0.634 
0.650 
0 . 68, 
0.68, 
0.69, 
0 . 714 
0.730 
0.746 
0.76, 
0.77g 


Old 

Carats 


J  33/64 
J  34/64 
]  35/64 
|  36/64 
|  37/64 
|  38/64 
]  39/64 
|  40/64 
|  41/64 
|  42/64 
J  43/64 
j 44/64 
|  45/64 
|  46/64 
]  47/64 
}  48/64 


New 

Metric 

Carats 

0 

77s 

0 

794 

0 

810 

0 

82, 

0 

84, 

0 

85, 

0 

874 

0 

890 

0 

906 

0 

92, 

0 

938 

0 

954 

0 

970 

0 

986 

1 

00, 

1 

018 

1 

035 

Old 

Carats 


}  49/64 
|  50/64 
]  51/64 
|  52/64 
|  53/64 
|  54/64 
}  55/64 
}  56/64 
j  57/64 
J  58/64 
|  59/64 
|  60/64 
j  61/64 
j 62/64 
|  63/64 
|  64/64 


110 


THE  JEWELRY  REPAIRER’S  HANDBOOK 


TABLE  4 


Equivalents  of  the  new  metric  carats  in  old  metric  carats. 
Computed  on  the  basis 


1  new  metric  carat=200  milligrams 
1  old  carat=205.3  milligrams 

Sets  of  weights  for  the  new  metric  carat  may  be  obtained  from 
your  jobbers. 


New 

Metric 

Carats 

Old 

Carats 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

Old 

Carats 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

Old 

Carats 

New 

Metric 

Carats 

Old 

Carats 

1 

62/64 

31 

30  13/64 

61 

59  27/64 

90 

87  43/64 

2 

1  61/64 

32 

31  11/64 

62 

60  26/64 

91 

88  42/84 

3 

2  59/64 

33 

32  9/64 

63 

61  24/64 

92 

89  40/64 

4 

3  57/64 

34 

33  8/64 

64 

62  22/64 

93 

90  38/64 

5 

4  56/64 

35 

34  6/64 

65 

63  21/64 

94 

91  37/84 

6 

5  54/64 

36 

35  5/64 

66 

64  19/64 

95 

92  35/64 

7 

6  52/64 

37 

36  3/64 

67 

65  17/64 

96 

93  33/64 

8 

7  51/64 

38 

37  1/64 

68 

66  16/64 

97 

94  32/64 

9 

8  49/64 

39 

38 

69 

67  14/64 

98 

95  30/64 

10 

9  47/64 

40 

38  62/64 

70 

68  12/64 

99 

96  28/64 

11 

10  46/64 

41 

39  60/64 

71 

69  11/64 

100 

97  27/64 

12 

11  44/64 

42 

40  59/64 

72 

70  9/64 

200 

194  54/64 

13 

12  43/64 

43 

41  57/64 

73 

71  7/64 

300 

292  16/64 

14 

13  41/64 

44 

42  55/64 

74 

72  6/64 

400 

389  43/64 

15 

14  39/64 

45 

43  54/64 

75 

73  4/64 

500 

487  6/64 

16 

15  38/64 

46 

44  52/64 

76 

74  2/64 

600 

584  33/64 

17 

16  36/64 

47 

45  50/64 

77 

75  1/64 

700 

681  59/64 

18 

17  34/64 

48 

46  49/64 

78 

75  63/64 

800 

779  22/64 

19 

18  33/64 

49 

47  47/64 

79 

76  61/64 

900 

876  49/64 

20 

19  31/64 

50 

48  45/64 

80 

77  60/64 

1000 

974  12/64 

21 

20  29/64 

51 

49  44/64 

81 

78  58/64 

2000 

1948  24/64 

22 

21  28/64 

52 

50  42/64 

82 

79  57/64 

3000 

2922  35/64 

23 

22  26/64 

53 

51  40/64 

83 

80  55/64 

4000 

3896  47/64 

24 

23  24/64 

54 

52  39/64 

84 

81  53/64 

5000 

4870  59/64 

25 

24  23/64 

55 

53  37/64 

85 

82  52/64 

6000 

5845  7/64 

26 

25  21/64 

56 

54  35/64 

86 

83  50/64 

7000 

6819  18/64 

27 

26  19/64 

57 

55  34/64 

87 

84  48/64 

8000 

7793  30/64 

28 

27  18/64 

58 

56  32/64 

88 

85  47/64 

9000 

8767  42/64 

29 

28  16/64 

59 

57  31/64 

89 

86  45/64 

10000 

9741  54/64 

30 

29  14/64 

60 

58  29/64 

HOROLOGICAL  DEPARTMENT 

(School  for  Watchmakers) 


BRADLEY 


Polytechnic  Institute 

PEORIA,  ILLINOIS 


This  Entire  Building  Used  Exclusively  for  Horological  Work 

HOROLOGY  HALL 

Offers  the  most  complete  course  in  Watchwork,  Jewelry, 
Engraving  and  Optics. 

Most  efficient  corps  of  instructors  at  a  price  most  rea¬ 
sonable. 

One  of  our  General  Catalogues  will  interest  you.  Ad¬ 
dress:  “Horological  Department,  Bradley  Polytechnic 
Institute,  Peoria,  Illinois.” 

We  have  several  other  bulletins  which  will  be  sent  on  request: 

1.  Annual  Catalogue  of  the  Institute. 

2.  Illustrated  Bulletin. 

3.  Vocational  Courses  in  Automobile  Me¬ 

chanics,  Drafting,  Electricity,  Machinists 
and  Woodworkers. 

4.  Summer  Session. 

3.  Short  Courses  in  Tractor  Repair. 

6.  Conservatory  of  Music. 


* 


r 


